Search

Editorial Special Issue on "Knowledge Sharing within Knowledge Intensive Organizations"

International audience; Distribution ectronique Cairn.info pour ISEOR. ISEOR. Tous droits rerv pour tous pays. La reproduction ou reprentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autoris que dans les limites des conditions gales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas hnt, des conditions gales de la licence souscrite par votre ablissement. Toute autre reproduction ou reprentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manie que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord prlable et rit de l'iteur, en dehors des cas prus par la lislation en vigueur en France. Il est prisque son stockage dans une base de donns est alement interdit. Document téléchargé depuis www.cairn.info-KEDGE Marseille-195.220.8.9-20/02/2014 13h09. © ISEOR Document téléchargé depuis www.cairn.info-KEDGE Marseille-195.220.8.9-20/02/2014 13h09. © ISEOR

International audience; There are nowadays numerous terms used to indicate the active role played by the consumer: co-production, co-creation, collaboration, participation etc. This plethora of terms does not make conceptualization of the consumer’s role and qualifying of his actions any easier. Conversely to these all-encompassing attempts, we propose here to zoom in on consumer’s self-production. To do so, we study exemplary cases which enable us to generate two new categories of self production. The resulting categorization underlines the dynamics and polymorphic nature of the consumer’s active role in relation to the firm.; Les termes employés pour rendre compte de l’activité du consommateur sont aujourd’hui nombreux : coproduction, cocréation, collaboration, participation, etc. Cette profusion ne facilite pas la conceptualisation du rôle du consommateur ainsi que la qualification de ses actions. À l’inverse de ces approches globalisantes, nous proposons ici de faire un zoom sur l’autoproduction du consommateur. Pour ce faire, nous étudions des cas exemplaires permettant de générer deux nouvelles catégories d’autoproduction. La catégorisation ainsi obtenue souligne la nature polymorphe et dynamique du rôle actif du consommateur en relation avec l’entreprise.

Editorial Special Issue on "Knowledge Sharing within Knowledge Intensive Organizations"

This paper seeks to determine if and to what extent the territory can be considered as an explanatory factor of the firms' creation. This possibility is backed up by the fact that the territory is first of all support of infrastructures, resources and organizations. It is also the place where more invisible elements and an entrepreneurial atmosphere take place and also influence new business dynamics. The novelty of the approach lies in the comparison between the explanatory power of these various elements taken separately and the geographical effect resulting from the use of the shift-share analysis. The approach is applied to the creation of new companies in the French departments. It shows that beside the usual factors related to the characteristics of the population and the structures, the intrinsicdynamics of the territory is an explanatory factor of the entrepreneurial performance and that its influence changes according to the activity of the entering companies., Ce texte cherche à déterminer si et dans quelle mesure le territoire fait partie des facteurs explicatifs de la création d'entreprises. Cette possibilité est étayée par le fait que le territoire est tout d'abord support d'infrastructures, de ressources et d'organisations. Il est également le lieu de concentration d'éléments plus invisibles et d'un milieu entrepreneurial qui orientent aussi les dynamiques de création. La nouveauté de la démarche proposée réside dans la comparaison entre le pouvoir explicatif de ces différents éléments pris isolément et l'effet géographique calculé à partir de la méthode structurelle-résiduelle. La démarche est appliquée à l'étude du taux de création d'entreprises des départements français en 2008. Elle montre qu'à côté des facteurs habituel s liés aux caractéristiques de la population et des structures, la dynamique intrinsèque du territoire est un facteur explicatif de la performance entrepreneuriale et que son influence varie selon l'activité des entreprises nouvellement créées.

Editorial Special Issue on "Knowledge Sharing within Knowledge Intensive Organizations"

Au cours des vingt dernières années, le débat sur la performance financière de l’investissement socialement responsable (ISR) n’a pas généré de consensus clair, démontrant essentiellement qu’il n’existe pas de différence de performance entre ISR et investissement « conventionnel », bien que l’ISR puisse sous-performer ou surperformer dans certains cas. Notre recherche, basée sur une approche méta-analytique « vote-couting » de la littérature empirique, nous permet de constater que les effets de l’ISR sur la performance financière sont multiples. Nous concluons dans un second temps que la performance financière de l’ISR change radicalement selon les méthodes empiriques utilisées par les chercheurs., Over the last twenty years, the debate on financial performance of socially responsible investment (SRI) has not yielded a clear consensus, arguing mainly that there was no difference in performance between SRI and ‘conventional’ investment, although SRI could underperform or outperform in some cases. Our research, based on a meta-analysis ‘vote-counting’ approach of the empirical literature, allows us to observe that the effects of SRI on financial performance are multiple. Second, we conclude that the financial performance of SRI is radically changing according to the empirical methods employed by researchers., En los últimos veinte años, el debate sobre el rendimiento financiero de la inversión socialmente responsable (ISR) no ha generado un consenso claro, lo que demuestra que no hubo ninguna diferencia esencial en el rendimiento entre el ISR y inversión « convencional », aunque puede ISR desempeño inferior o superan en algunos casos. Nuestra investigación, basada en un enfoque meta-analítico « vote-couting » de la literatura empírica, podemos ver que los efectos de ISR sobre los resultados financieros son numerosas. Llegamos a la conclusión de que en un segundo tiempo el desempeño financiero de los cambios ISR radicalmente dependiendo de los métodos empíricos utilizados por los investigadores.

International audience; Grâce à une enquête originale réalisée auprès d'étudiants algériens, cet article analyse les transformations de la cellule familiale algérienne et, au travers de ses différentes dimensions, l'évolution de la solidarité intergénérationnelle mise en œuvre dans les familles. Nos résultats montrent que si la cellule familiale connaît des transformations, l'attachement cognitif aux relations intergénérationnelles reste très ancré.

18 pages; International audience; Unlike previous studies that examine the direct effect of employees' perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) on affective organizational commitment (AOC), this article examines a mediated link through organizational trust and organizational identification. Social exchange and social identity theory provide the foundation for predictions that the primary outcomes of CSR initiatives are organizational trust and organizational identification, which in turn affect AOC. The test of the research model relies on data collected from 378 employees of local and multinational companies in South Asia, as well as structural equation modeling to test the postulated relationships. Both organizational trust and organizational identification fully mediate the CSR-AOC link. However, the identification mechanism is significantly stronger than the trust mechanism in terms of building AOC from CSR. Out of four CSR components, CSR toward employees is the strongest predictor of employees' trust, identification, and AOC, followed by CSR toward community, whereas CSR toward the environment has no effect. Finally, CSR toward community and employees are more associated with social exchange, whereas CSR toward consumers relates more to the social identity process.

Chartering rather than owning a vessel is a recurrent question for liner operators. This article aims at identifying the extent of such chartering practices, the characteristics of vessels chartered and if an impact on liner profitability can be found. To do so, an initial dataset collected in 2009 on 510 liner operators and 5,005 vessels is used. Results from random effect Probit models point out first that chartering rates are not different between small and large operators. Furthermore, findings suggest that chartering of small and young vessels is more common and that chartering rates have increased for companies subject to higher fleet growth from 2007 to 2009. An analysis using a fixed effect Logit model on intra-fleet management of 17 selected liner companies further stresses that larger companies have chartered more small vessels during the last 2 years, a result that may be explain by the need to allocate the financing to new larger vessels. We then study whether the chartering rate and the size of these 17 liner companies have had an influence on their observed profitability in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Our results suggest that those variables impact profitability, but in variable ways over time.

International audience; The value co-creation concept has opened a new area of research in BtoC and BtoB interactions. However, value co-creation theoretical frameworks and related terms are far from being defined and stabilized. In a zoom-out attempt to answer this state of play, Vargo and Lusch (2011) recently proposed the introduction of the abstract designation of actor-to-actor (A2A). Through a meta-analysis of recent literature on value co-creation this paper highlights the strong heterogeneity of units and processes taken into account. Thus, it questions the adequate level of abstraction that could be relevant for the development of the value co-creation concept and argues for a zoom-in approach. Overall, the paper contributes to the ongoing scientific controversy concerning the value co-creation concept.

PurposeThe goal of the article is to use the concepts of catching‐up and leapfrogging that are most often found in the literature on developmental economics to explore the process by which newcomers overturn an established market leader.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses two case studies, one of the initial development of the transistor radio by the Japanese and the other of the development of electric vehicles in China, to illustrate the application of these concepts to concrete examples.FindingsThe way in which Sony caught up with, and jumped ahead of, American radio manufacturers is explained using the concepts of catching‐up and leapfrogging to emphasize the different phases in the process. This is contrasted with the development of electric vehicles in China which is a process that is still unfolding. The potential importance of one particular development, the low speed electric vehicle, is highlighted.Practical implicationsThe concepts of catching‐up and leapfrogging provide a simple method to visualize the ways in which a newcomer might overtake an incumbent. Their application to the case studies also highlights the crucial importance of a sound business model in this process.Originality/valueAlthough the case of Sony and the transistor radio is relatively well known, this article places it in a new conceptual framework. The case of the development of electric vehicles in general, and the example of the low speed electric vehicle in particular, is new and has not been widely explored.

Most articles on strategic breakthroughs tend to concentrate on large, high-tech organizations. Yet the French firm 1001 Listes, which creates and manages wedding lists, has shown that it is possible for even a relatively small organization to generate strategic breakthroughs with standard off-the-shelf information technology. Its experience highlights two points that previous studies have overlooked: Breakthrough strategies are based on innovations in business models as well as innovations in technology, and breakthrough strategies may actually reduce a company's reliance on high-tech solutions as a means of maintaining its competitive advantage. Using Henderson and Venkatraman's (1993) model of strategic alignment, this article also outlines the nature of breakthrough strategies.

We first develop a standard theoretical model that shows that the likelihood of a collapse of the banking industry of a developing country increases, as the joint prevalence of large pandemics such as AIDS and malaria increases. We also show that the optimal bank reserves increase as the prevalence increases. In the empirical part of the paper, we consider a large dataset of developing countries, and we exhibit a strong causality effect from combined prevalence to deposit turnover, as well as a strong causality effect from an increase of combined prevalence to an increase in bank reserves. This effect is strong for tuberculosis. Those empirical facts therefore strongly support our theoretical findings.

International audience; This paper analyzes what features of financial systems can strengthen the linkages between banks and economic development. We investigate whether a set of banking and capital market characteristics can improve the ability of banks to provide increased credit flows to the private sector, while simultaneously improving financial inclusion for the poor. We analyze the determinants of both macro-level lending conditions and micro-level access to finance using a set of Panel Vector Error Correction Models and GMM estimations in a panel of 138 countries for the 2002-2009 time periods. Results converge to suggest that rather than focusing solely on banking sector size, financial policy should seek to foster inter banks competition, develop appropriate macro-prudential safeguards, promote capital market development. In addition, improved access to finance requires adequate civil rights and support to entrepreneurship.

The management control of the organizational performance of an audit and chartered accounting company is still a major preoccupation of the French chartered accountants association. Some professional associations recommend a value based approach concerning as well the internal organization management as the relationship with clients. Faced with the limits of the methods based on a logic of cost, we propose a new method of management control of an audit and chartered accounting organization, based on a logic of value., Le pilotage de la performance organisationnelle d'un cabinet d'Expertise- comptable est aujourd'hui une préoccupation majeure de l'Ordre des Expert-comptables. Certaines associations d'Expert-comptables prônent une approche aussi bien interne, organisationnelle, qu'externe, vis-à-vis des clients, basée sur la valeur. Face aux limites des méthodes de contrôle traditionnelles fondées sur des logiques de coût, nous proposons une méthode originale de pilotage de l'organisation d'un cabinet, basée sur une logique de valeur.

Cette étude a pour but de démontrer un lien entre l'investissement socialement responsable (ISR) et la performance financière ou boursière. Une méta-analyse - la première dans le champ de recherche - selon la méthode expérimentale de Hedges et Olkin (1985) est ainsi menée sur un corpus empirique regroupant 61 études. Les résultats observés tendent à prouver que l'éthique n'a pas de coût financier et génère une rentabilité similaire à celle de l'investissement conventionnel. Nous observons également que les choix empiriques effectués par les auteurs influencent considérablement la nature de la performance financière de l'ISR.

This research investigates how country macro and micro images associated with both brand origin (BO) and country of manufacture (COM) impact two main dimensions of brand equity–brand image and brand quality. Whereas BO images relate positively to both dimensions of brand equity, COM images exert an impact on brand quality, not on brand image. The typicality of the brand as a representative of the country of origin moderates the impact of BO on brand equity, such that the effects of BO on brand equity are stronger when the brand is more typical. The authors explore implications for theory and practice.

International audience

Communities of Practice are recognized as specific form of "intra-organizational" network for the exchange and development of knowledge and practices. The ob-jective of this communication is to understand motiva-tion of members to participate in a community of prac-tice. For this, our empirical section presents users pro-files within an intra-organizational virtual community of practice in a multinational. This first result have highlight games of players between members of the community., Les communautés de pratiques sont reconnues comme étant une forme spécifique de réseau "intra- organisationnel " permettant les échanges et le dévelop- pement du savoir et des pratiques. L'objectif de cette communication est d'évaluer le degré et la motivation des membres à participer à une communauté de pra- tiques Pour cela, notre partie empirique présente des profils d'utilisateurs au sein de la communauté de pra- tiques intra-organisationnelle de type virtuelle dans une multinationale d'ingénierie. Ce premier résultat a per- mis de mettre en lumière des jeux d'acteurs entre les membres de la communauté.

In recent years, social networks and their uses have taken a important place in the Internet galaxy. Among these networks those who don't charge end users have not yet stabilized their business model. For these networks, the challenge is now to convert their success in revenu, in other words, to put their targeting and profiling capabilities of Internet users and communities in the service of advertisers. As shown in the example of aka'aki, a mobile social network based on geo-location, the path is narrow and not yet guaranteed success. The growing defiance of Internet users in front of the industrialization of their private data is the main limitation of this business model., Depuis quelques années, les réseaux sociaux et les usages qu'ils nourrissent ont pris une place significative au sein de la galaxie Internet. Parmi ces réseaux, ceux qui pratiquent la gratuité pour les utilisateurs finals n'ont pas encore stabilisé leur modèle économique et ce, malgré les audiences dont ils bénéficient (Facebook, par exemple). Pour ces réseaux, le défi est désormais de convertir leur succès d'estime en espèces sonnantes et trébuchantes ; en d'autres termes, de mettre leurs capacités de ciblage et de filtrage des internautes, et des communautés que ces derniers forment, au service d'annonceurs solvables. Comme le montre l'exemple de aka'aki, réseau social géolocalisé sur l'Internet mobile, la voie est étroite et le succès non encore garanti. La défiance croissante des internautes à l'endroit de la " marchandisation " des données privées constitue la limite principale du " business model " en gestation.

Shipping companies frequently outsource the management of their vessels. In this paper, we use data from Lloyd's Register Fairplay [(2009) IHS Fairplay World shipping encyclopaedia. Available at http://www.ihs.com/products/maritime-information/ships/world-shipping-encyclopedia.aspx?pu=1&rd=ihsfairplay_com] on 45 456 vessels belonging to 9580 different ship-owners to investigate the extent of outsourcing in shipping and to identify the key factors affecting the likelihood of outsourcing. The results of our econometric analysis indicate that ship-owners' decisions to outsource are explained by the characteristics of the vessels in question (age, type and size) and the characteristics of the ship-owner (country of domiciliation and number of vessels). In addition, a specific country effect is identified for Greek ship-owners, which is in line with the findings of previous studies.

Working paper GATE 2011-04; International audience; This paper analyzes the under-investigated relationship uniting financial development and income distribution. We use a novel approach taking into account for the first time the specific channels linking banks, capital markets and income inequality, the time-varying nature of the relationship, and reciprocal causality. We construct a set of annual indicators of banking and capital market size, robustness, efficiency and international integration. We then estimate the determinants of income distribution using a panel Bayesian structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model, for a set of 49 countries over the 1994-2002 period. We uncover a significant causality running from financial sector development to income distribution. In addition, the banking sector seems to exert a stronger impact on inequality. Finally, the relationship appears to depend on characteristics of the financial sector, rather than on its size.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the probability that shipping companies outsource the management of vessels to ship management companies, a decision with many implications for the logistics chain. Data on 39,925 vessels are used to investigate to the extent to which 4,049 different ship-owners (each operating a fleet of at least two vessels) outsource to ship-management service providers. We rely on multinomial Logit random and fixed effects regressions to explain how the characteristics of the owners and vessels influence this decision. We find that the size of the firm in terms of the number of vessels and the number of different types of vessels influence the likelihood of outsourcing. Also, ship-owners frequently implement a mixed strategy and outsource only some of their vessels.

International audience; This article explores some of the challenges faced when managing virtual teams, in particular the role played by trust and identity in virtual teams. It outlines why teams and virtual teams have become a valuable part of the modern organization and presents ten short case studies that illustrate the range of activities in which virtual teams can be found. Following this, the article examines some of the common problems encountered in virtual team working. It discusses two broad classes of solutions. The first are solutions that are essentially technical in nature (i.e., where changes to or improvements in technology would help to solve or ameliorate the problem); the second are more organizationally based (i.e., where the root of the problem is in people and how they are managed). The article concludes that both the technical and the organizational solutions need to be considered in parallel if an attempt to build an effective virtual team is to be successful.

International audience; The article examines the process of innovation and knowledge sharing from a perspective that focuses on the influence that local circumstances can have. In particular, it looks at the problems of knowledge sharing between groups of professionals. It presents a comparative analysis of two studies, one involving two groups of IT professionals; the other a network of healthcare professionals. The data was collected in two sets. The first set consisted of the results from two earlier, independent studies; the second was collected specifically for this article. We investigate the role played by boundary objects and brokers. Through an analysis of the interplay between boundary object and broker, we uncover the dynamics of the innovation process and show that the role played by the broker can be political. We identify two strategies that are used by brokers in the selection of a boundary object. The first is directed towards achieving a balance between the actors involved and the second is directed towards controlling their activities. We conclude by suggesting that other researchers should also consider the interplay between broker and boundary object when examining cross-boundary knowledge sharing.

International audience; Cet article fait un historique des différents courants français de recherche sur la consommation apparus entre la fin des années 1980 et les années 2000, et qui se sont rassemblés ensuite dans le courant dit de la Consumer Culture Theory (Arnould et Thompson, 2005). Les différents auteurs et travaux sont présentés chronologiquement: les années clandestines, les années de légitimation, et enfin, les années de consolidation de manière à mettre en lumière L'émergence des principaux thèmes de recherche. À partir de cet historique et en s'appuyant sur une recherche bibliométrique, cet article développe trois apports majeurs de la recherche française proto-CCT: l'appropriation de l'expérience, la valeur de lien des offres et la sociosémiotique de la consommation. L'article se termine par les axes possibles de développement.

This paper looks at what happens when Communities of Practice are used as a tool for Knowledge Management. The original concept of a Community of Practice appears to have very little in common with the knowledge sharing communities found in Knowledge Management, which are based on a revised view of 'cultivated' communities. We examine the risks and benefits of cultivating Communities of Practice rather than leaving them 'in the wild'. The paper presents the findings from two years of research in a small microelectronics firm to provide some insights into the wild vs domesticated dichotomy and discusses the implications of attempting to tame Communities of Practice in this way., Comment: Paper presented at the Ethicomp 2010: The 'Backwards, Forwards and Sideways' changes of ICT, Tarragona, Spain, April, 2010, pp. 71 - 80.

This paper estimates the annual CO2 emissions by international shipping over the 2007-2009 period. Once controlling for the recent changes in activity levels in international trade, we evidence a slow-down of the total volume emitted in 2009. Using an exhaustive dataset of the world fleet, we provide international rankings in CO2 emissions both by country of ownership and by flag of registry of vessels. We finally study how, through flagging-out, most ship-owners from developed countries are implicitly exporting a share of their CO2 emissions under foreign flags. This suggests that a system based on taxes or quotas to be applied by vessel type rather than by the country of ownership or flag of registry may be more efficient to reduce CO2 emissions in shipping.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether verbal rating scales are viable formats for attitude measurement through an application to Japanese consumers' product quality perceptions.Design/methodology/approachThe article notes theoretical differences between Likert‐based and Thurstone approaches to attitude measurement. The paper illustrates a Thurstone scale development process.FindingsThe new scale possesses nomological validity; it correctly predicts how consumer ethnocentrism relates to product quality evaluations for brands in different competitive situations.Practical implicationsThe convenient, ready‐to‐apply verbal rating scale can measure Japanese consumers' perceptions of product quality. The article also offers survey researchers some practical guidance for developing their own verbal rating scales.Originality/valueVerbal rating scales are rarely found in existing literature. This study sheds light on a frequently overlooked measurement scale format for measuring attitudes.

International audience; This article will examine some of the reasons why the automobile industry in China has become the subject of so much interest in recent years. In particular, it will focus on its capacity for innovation through an in-depth study of one company: the BYD group. The article will examine the growth of the group and trace the development of the innovative strategies that have helped it to become a significant player in the electric car market. It will highlight three particular levels at which innovation has taken place, the organisational, human resource management and technological levels, and will analyse how these innovations interrelate to the overall breakthrough strategy of BYD. The article concludes with some observations about the capacity of BYD to continue to innovate, prosper and grow using its existing strategy.

Port state control regimes have been established more than 30 years ago to help prevent accidents in shipping. These controls are obviously not sufficient to correct or prevent all hazards leading to an accident, but they have played a major role in the general reduction of the number of maritime accidents observed during the last decade. Using data on 42,000 vessels/inspections carried out from 2002 to 2009 by 18 state members of the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding, this paper focuses more closely on the type of deficiencies found during inspections and on changes in these deficiencies over time and between successive inspections.

International audience; La confiance du consommateur est l'un des éléments clés pour créer et maintenir¦les relations avec la clientèle en ligne. La mesure de la confiance vis-à-vis¦d'un site web marchand nécessite d'autres indicateurs de la confiance que ceux¦utilisés pour une marque ou un magasin physique. Bien que l'étude de la confiance¦en général soit un domaine de recherche bien établi, peu de chercheurs de la communauté¦française ont étudié la confiance des consommateurs sur Internet. Cet¦article propose une échelle de mesure de la confiance vis-à-vis des sites web¦marchands, adaptée au contexte français. Le développement de l'échelle suit de¦près le cadre théorique proposé par McKnight, Choudhury et Kacmar (2002).

Cet article a vocation pedagogique passe en revue les difficultes liees a la transposition d’un questionnaire d’une culture a une autre. A l’aide de divers exemples, nous montrons dans une premiere partie que la traduction n’assure pas necessairement l’equivalence conceptuelle et que la desirabilite sociale des reponses et les styles de reponse varient selon les cultures. Dans la seconde partie nous presentons brievement trois techniques, l’analyse factorielle confirmatoire multigroupes, l’analyse des courbes de reponse des items et la calibration prealable qui permettent d’evaluer la stabilite des mesures. Nous precisons leurs avantages et inconvenients ainsi que leurs limites.

Les mutations démographiques (vieillissement de la population, décès des retraités émigrés de la première génération vivant en France ou en Algérie, etc.) et sociales ainsi que l’informalisation importante de l’économie algérienne ne vont-elles pas à l’avenir poser un problème de protection contre les risques de la vie? Que recouvre et comment évolue la solidarité intergénérationnelle en Algérie? Est-elle de nature formelle ou informelle? Est-elle ascendante ou descendante? Nous nous concentrons ici sur une thématique transversale qui est celle de la solidarité intergénérationnelle. Celle-ci peut être le cadre pertinent pour mobiliser des acteurs autour de projets collectifs susceptibles d’être pilotés avec des critères d’efficacité sociale plutôt que de rentabilité financière. Il s’agit donc d’identifier des pratiques sociales organisées de telles manières à créer un champ de crédibilité permettant l’intervention de tiers en appui aux projets via, par exemple, la microfinance.Mots clefs: Solidarité intergénérationnelle, mutations sociales, financement des risques de la vie, Algérie

Les détentions des navires suite aux contrôles des navires par l'Etat du port sont l'objet de plaintes récurrentes de la part des armateurs. Ainsi, ces derniers s'interrogent régulièrement sur les raisons pour lesquelles, bien que les règles portant sur la sécurité maritime soient universelles, des disparités importantes sur le résultat des contrôles existent selon le lieu où ce dernier se déroule. Pour les Etats côtiers en charge de ces contrôles, ces disparités se justifient pleinement et s'expliquent tout simplement par des différences dans les caractéristiques des navires faisant escale dans leurs ports. Cet article utilise des données sur le résultat de 42071 inspections qui se sont déroulées au sein des 14 pays du Mémorandum régional de l'Océan Indien afin de savoir si l'argument avancé par les autorités en charge des contrôles est légitime. Si les caractéristiques des navires jouent clairement un rôle, en particulier le type, l'âge et la société de classification, il demeure toutefois des différences significatives au niveau de la détention selon les pays où l'inspection a lieu.

The quality of the audit depends on numerous factors, it notably depends on controls which are exercised on the conditions of exercise of the profession and on the activity it even. The objective of our research is to verify that the statutory executives and the professionals of the legal audit in the countries which we connect to "the French School of Accounting " are similar. But, the possible resemblances which can more be put in light compared with a country situated outside the sphere of influence, we also concerned our glance the statutory frame prevailing in a country which, although belonging to the cultural community of the French-speaking world, cannot be considered as being of the same accounting school, in this particular case the province of Quebec in Canada. The analysis of the statutory texts and professional texts, as well as the answers to a questionnaire sent to the professionals of the legal audit in the studied countries, allow to assert that : - the profession is regulated and controlled everywhere but in rather different degrees, - the reference to the French model is very present in the countries of Frenchspeaking Africa, even if it is not any more the only model, - the rule and the Canadian and French practices are closed, however the missions that assign the trade organizations of rule and control are slightly different. Finally, we were able to notice that the improvement of the quality keeps pace with the economic development of the country, the noticed differences between countries are the reflection of their level of development., La qualité de l'audit légal dépend de nombreux facteurs, elle dépend notamment des contrôles qui sont exercés sur les conditions d'exercice de la profession et sur l'activité elle-même. L'objectif de notre recherche est d'examiner si les cadres réglementaires et professionnels de l'audit légal dans les pays que l'on rattache à « l'Ecole française de comptabilité » sont similaires. Les similitudes éventuelles pouvant davantage être mises en lumière par comparaison avec un pays situé hors de la zone d'influence, nous avons également porté notre regard sur le cadre réglementaire prévalant dans un pays qui, bien qu'appartenant à la communauté culturelle de la francophonie, ne peut être considéré comme étant de la même école comptable, en l'occurrence la province du Québec au Canada. L'analyse des textes réglementaires et professionnels, ainsi que les réponses à un questionnaire adressé aux professionnels de l'audit légal dans les pays étudiés, permettent d'affirmer que : - la profession est partout réglementée et contrôlée mais à des degrés assez divers, - la référence au modèle français est très présente dans les pays d'Afrique francophone, même s'il n'est plus le modèle unique, - la réglementation et les pratiques canadiennes et françaises sont proches, cependant les missions que s'assignent les organismes professionnels de réglementation et de contrôle sont légèrement différentes. Enfin, nous avons pu remarquer que l'amélioration de la qualité va de pair avec le développement économique du pays, les différences constatées entre les pays sont le reflet de leur niveau de développement.

During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Brazil went through a sequence of failed stabilization plans that tried to cope with an enduring hyperinflation. This paper uses a money demand model to evaluate monetary policies during those episodes. The consistency between the money supply and the expected conditional money demand growth rates is considered for each plan. It is shown that the unsuccessful programs were marked by excessive liquidity. The results not only suggest that the mismanagement of the monetary aggregates led to the failure of the plans, but also that the excessive liquidity could have been predicted.

International audience

The stated aim of this conference is to debate the continuing evolution of IS in businesses and other organisations. This paper seeks to contribute to this debate by exploring the concept of appropriation from a number of different epistemological, cultural and linguistic viewpoints to allow us to explore 'the black box' of appropriation and to gain a fuller understanding of the term. At the conceptual level, it will examine some of the different ways in which people have attempted to explain the relationship between the objective and concrete features of technology and the subjective and shifting nature of the people and organisation within which that technology is deployed. At the cultural and linguistic level the paper will examine the notion as it is found in the Francophone literature, where the term has a long and rich history, and the Anglophone literature where appropriation is seen as a rather more specialist term. The paper will conclude with some observations on the ongoing nature of the debate, the value of reading beyond the literature with which one is familiar and the rewards that come from exploring different historical (and linguistic) viewpoints., in Proceedings of 13th UKAIS Conference, (April 2008), Bournemouth, UK

This paper explores the links between Knowledge Management and new community-based models of the organization from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. From a theoretical standpoint, we look at Communities of Practice (CoPs) and Knowledge Management (KM) and explore the links between the two as they relate to the use of information systems to manage knowledge. We begin by reviewing technologically supported approaches to KM and introduce the idea of "Systemes d'Aide a la Gestion des Connaissances" SAGC (Systems to aid the Management of Knowledge). Following this we examine the contribution that communal structures such as CoPs can make to intraorganizational KM and highlight some of 'success factors' for this approach to KM that are found in the literature. From an empirical standpoint, we present the results of a survey involving the Chief Knowledge Officers (CKOs) of twelve large French businesses; the objective of this study was to identify the factors that might influence the success of such approaches. The survey was analysed using thematic content analysis and the results are presented here with some short illustrative quotes from the CKOs. Finally, the paper concludes with some brief reflections on what can be learnt from looking at this problem from these two perspectives., in Proceedings of 13th UKAIS Conference, (April 2008), Bournemouth, UK

In this paper we address the following question: would a fully integrated world economy eliminate the widely reported decline in the terms of trade of primary commodities? We address the question by looking at the terms of trade within the US (a highly integrated economy). Our findings show two results. First, US internal real commodities' terms of trade over the 1947--1998 period experienced slowly declining but significant trends. Second, once we control for the effect of US prices on international terms of trade, we find a long-run relationship between the US and international relative prices. These findings support the view that the decline of commodities' terms of trade bears no relationship with the process of globalisation. This seems to indicate that, if world terms of trade behaved as the US terms of trade, neither increased integration nor protectionist measures would eliminate this trend. Copyright The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

International audience; In seeking to understand relationships between smaller suppliers and larger customers, there is a growing interest in examining the characteristics of asymmetry in relationships. However, there is a paucity of research that looks at the consequences of size asymmetry for smaller suppliers. Building on IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group) research, this paper presents a typology for analysing the consequences of size asymmetry in customer-supplier relationships from the smaller supplier's perspective. The paper reports on the findings from a study involving a total of 48 interviews and eight in-depth case studies of suppliers in the UK textile industry involved in relationships with larger customers. The findings from the study show that the consequences of size asymmetry may vary widely across different relationship characteristics, with both positive and negative outcomes for suppliers. The implications of these findings are that suppliers may take advantage of the positive and constructive consequences of size asymmetry to capitalise on developing their current relationships with customers. In addition, by focusing on the positive consequences of size asymmetry, suppliers may develop the confidence and assurance to develop constructive and more balanced new customer relationships. The paper concludes by identifying the managerial implications for the development of opportunities and customer relationship options for suppliers in asymmetric relationships and proposes that it is important for suppliers to have an assessment instrument to identify the extent of asymmetry or symmetry across their customer relationships.

This paper studies the implementation of bankruptcy law in 19th century France. It uses two sources: first, the annual exhaustive statistical appraisal of bankruptcies published from 1840 on; second, individual bankruptcy files conserved at the Paris Merchant Court archives. We show that the changes in bankruptcy law cannot explain the changes in the number and size of bankruptcies, suggesting changes in the practice of the courts as well as in the behaviour of firms. Most importantly, the Parisian example suggests that the courts didn't treat all firms on the same basis, privileging the important ones. This gives new arguments against a purely legalistic and retrospective vision of the impact of bankruptcy law on economic activity, and in favour of an empirical study of its concrete implementation., Cet article étudie l'application de la législation sur les faillites en France au XIXème siècle. Il utilise deux sources : la statistique annuelle des faillites mise en place à partir de 1840 par le Ministère de la Justice et les dossiers individuels de faillite conservés par les archives du Tribunal de commerce de Paris. Il montre que l'évolution de la législation ne peut pas suffire à expliquer les comportements en matière de faillite, qui reflètent aussi des transformations économiques. Surtout, il démontre à partir de l'exemple parisien que les tribunaux ne traitent pas toujours à l'identique toutes les entreprises, accordant un traitement de faveur aux plus grandes d'entre elles. Ce travail donne ainsi de nouveaux arguments contre une vision légaliste et rétrospective de l'impact de la législation des faillites sur l'activité économique et en faveur d'une étude empirique de son application concrète.

The collaboration of the consumer stands as an innovative aspect of marketing which has been especially developed by the so-called S-D Logic (Service Dominant Logic). However, a wide range of different research streams focuses on this phenomenon. In this paper, we detail each of these streams, we confront them with each other and with the reality through the case study of the Warhammer enthusiast consumer. A practical and theoretical discussion follows., La collaboration du consommateur est un aspect innovant du marketing mis au goût du jour par les développements de la S-D Logic (Service Dominant Logic). Cependant, un ensemble disparate de courants de recherche s‟intéresse à ce phénomène. Ce papier les détaille et le met en parallèle avant de les confronter à la réalité d‟un cas celui des consommateurs passionnés du jeu Warhammer. Une discussion théorique et pratique suit.

L’attitude et le comportement par rapport aux destinations touristiques est un phenomene souvent etudie dans le domaine du marketing touristique. Dans ce champ, le concept de la personnalite des marques attire depuis peu de temps l’attention des chercheurs. Cet article propose que la personnalite des villes est un construit permettant de segmenter les individus plutot qu’une variable explicative de l’attitude au sein d’un groupe heterogene de touristes. Notre modele, fonde sur la theorie sur la congruence de soi (Sirgy 1982) suggere que l’attitude hedonique vis-a-vis d’une destination touristique soit une variable mediatrice entre la congruence de soi et l’attitude globale. Une etude empirique confirme le modele theorique propose.

This paper aims at giving an explanation of the changes in the number of bankruptcies during the second part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. We wonder in particular whether changes in bankruptcy law, which are substantial during the period, suffice to explain the rise in the proportion of bankrupted firms. We first describe the main features and changes of French insolvency law and show that they contradict the evolution observed at the aggregate level. We then show that existing statistics, which include a regional dimension, allow for a better test of the impact of legal changes. We show that some legal changes had a significant impact, but not all. We also observe that regional variations in bankruptcies are huge and do not correspond to French economic geography, but may rather be understood as a diffusion process from the Paris Court towards the provinces. The major differences among regions also suggest that, even in a civil law country, the letter the law is much less important than local practices.