Article pp.187-189 du Vol.35 n°194 (2009)

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SOCIETY AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

Guest Editors : Rodolphe Durand, Sandra Charreire-Petit, Vanessa Warnier

9 Contributors to this issue

13 RFG-AIMS. A special issue Rodolphe Durand

15 « Tribune ». For a socially engaged management science Rodolphe Durand, Sandra Charreire-Petit, Vanessa Warnier

29 Sustainable development or the emergence of a new coordination convention

Denyse Remillard, Dominique Wolff

This contribution aims at showing that the concept of corporate social responsibility became more and more important in the business management and that this evolution can be interpreted like the result of a change of shareholder convention towards that of the sustainable development. In this contribution, an exploratory study – based on the case-study method and using guide SD 21000 on sustainable development in business strategy will be conducted to document this phenomenon.

45 Environmental communication and firm reputation Déborah Philippe, Rodolphe Durand

We suggest that environmental disclosures will have differentiated impacts on the firm’s reputation according to the nature, visibility and consistency of the disclosures as well as to the firm’s prior reputation. Results suggest that conformity signals improve firm reputation while non-conformity signals deplete it. However, the simultaneous presence of both types of signals buffers the negative effect of non-conformity signals on reputation. Eventually, our results indicate that the interpretation of signals also depends on their visibility and the firm’s prior reputation: an above-average prior reputation reinforces the positive influence of a high signal visibility on a firm’s reputation.

issue 194 May 2009

S U M M A R Y

Cet article des Editions Lavoisier est disponible en acces libre et gratuit sur archives-rfg.revuesonline.com

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65 Acting on the environment: the institutional entrepreneurship of political technologies

Karim Ben Slimane

This paper studies how institutional entrepreneurs can use political technologies that they frame as being in the interest of all, in order to influence the environment. Political technologies as defined by Winner (1999) have predictable and non negotiable social outcomes that can enhance the power of certain actors on others. To illustrate the use of political technologies by institutional entrepreneurs, we draw on the strategy used by TF1 to safeguard its dominant position in the broadcasting field. In 2004, TF1 sponsored the mpeg4 technology, which reduces resources available to the implementation of digital terrestrial television. In doing so, TF1 aimed at hindering the entrance of newcomers to the industry.

83 Institutional change and discursive strategies. A case-study of GMOs in France (1996-2007)

Élodie Brulé, Luc Audebrand

This paper draws from a research done in the French agricultural sector following the introduction of the first genetically modified seeds in 1996. We describe the discursive strategies that have been used by actors with opposite interests: those in favour and those against the diffusion of GMOs. Our results show the various discourses held between the protagonists in this conflict throughout the theorization process around this innovation. We analyze the discursive content of the strategies used by actors during their interactions in favour or against GMOs. We also decorticate the multiple interactions between the discursive contents that are used by actors.

105 The professionalisation of Human resources management function:

myth et limits

Francis Guérin, Frédérique Pigeyre, Patrick Gilbert

Management never stops studying its own birth and development. Human Resource Management is involved in the same process, either this concerns knowledge or practices. Most academic interested in Human Resource Management analyze it as a strategic function in the firms. This is a sort of illusion: more than a proper profession, HRM is nothing more, nor less, than a part of the managerial professional field.

123 The transfer process between seller and buyer : an approach based on the theory of mourning

Thierno Bah

This study focuses on the turning point of the transfer process, in particular the transfer of power from the person leaving the business to the new owner. The 188 Revue française de gestion – N° 194/2009

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theory of mourning is used as the context to understand this phase. An empirical study was conducted on a sample of 12 small businesses. Thirty-six personal narratives were collected from the principle players involved in the succession process (sellers, buyers, employees, and professional and institutional contributors). The conclusion based on this research is that the relationship between the two major players in the transfer is based on a determining element:

the seller’s psychological ability to mourn. The results also reveal the factors which make detachment from the company easier for the seller as well as the factors which impede the process during this phase. Finally, the personal narratives of the players reveal that the success of the transfer period also depends largely on the attitude of the buyer.

149 The Pygmalion manager Ève Lamendour

Movies often depict companies negatively. Their unfavorable portraits of managers permeate the representations currently held by the public. A number of contemporary films look upon management mostly as a relational process, and the company is shown as a place where staff relationships are a matter of beginner-mentor exchanges. This notion is strong and widespread but is it grounded in reality? Our purpose in the present article is to look critically at this view and to assess the part really played by companies in the training of their junior executives. In so doing we hope to understand what is at stake in hierarchical behaviors and to show how the analysis of some fictitious representations can influence real-world management.

169 Fiction, popular culture et recherche in management: an exploration through The Simpsonsseries

Amaury Grimand

Fiction, notably in its most popular forms, is an effective way to analyze organizational practices. In the Simpsonsseries, in particular, organizations and institutions play an important part in the context. The argumentation developed in this article relies on the Simpsons to revisit academic production on transgression and actors conflicting relationship to organizational rules. Beyond the example of the Simpsons, fiction enables to better take into account the symbolic dimension of organizations. By providing alternative visions of organizational life, fiction allows to renew both research and managerial practice.

187 Summary

Summary 189