Management

Worldwide, innovation ecosystems have been used as a framework to promote socioeconomic development. Brazil has been conducting several efforts to foster innovation ecosystems as a strategic option for its socioeconomic development and as a way of becoming a more aggressive actor in the global knowledge economy. However, these initiatives have fallen short of expectations. In this paper we argue that some of the frustrating results could be prevented by facing up to some strategic challenges like fostering an innovation culture, adopting a context-dependent definition and innovative ecosystems framework, providing an extended innovation policy mix, attempting to strike a balance between innovation ecosystems and knowledge-based regions and cities, and developing innovation management competencies. Despite the present context characterized by economic and political crisis, we argue that the propositions introduced in this paper can contribute to a positive agenda.

Globally distributed teams (GDTs) have become essential tools for organisations to expand, quickly adapt and restructure to remain competitive in the current economic climate. The theoretical literature has been discussing the advantages, but also the barriers, limitations and challenges in GDTs’ internal practices and processes. However, scholars have not yet sufficiently examined empirically the implications of cultural differences when teams operate in virtual contexts. To address this gap, this study aims to explore how different cultures interact and stimulate work collaboration in GDTs. Following the acquisition and merger of Volvo and Renault, we conducted a qualitative study of the collaborative work of GDTs located in Brazil, Sweden and France during the creation of Volvo Group’s VM truck. Our results highlight that the interaction of the three involved national cultures led to better collaboration between members of a GDT. Furthermore, as a managerial contribution, this st...

The current complexity of economic, social, technological and business environments in which modern organizations are inserted have determined new forms of working relationships and configurations. This has in turn triggered numerous studies and comparative analyses about the processes enveloped by these new working patterns. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse how the creative process unfolds in globally distributed teams. Using a qualitative approach, we presented a case study conducted within Volvo 3P projects and more specifically the New Product Development team based in Brazil, which works alongside teams distributed in Sweden, France and India. Our empirical evidence shows that whilst individuals are the core element of the creative process in collocated teams; in globally distributed teams the fundamental foundation of the creative process is the organization.

La théorie du sensemaking de K.E. Weick est une des approches les plus fécondes pour rendre compte des réactions des organisations aux situations de crise. Or cette théorie ne concède à la décision qu'une place restreinte par rapport à l'importance que les acteurs confèrent aux pratiques décisionnelles dans les organisations. Cet article 1 propose d'envisager la décision comme un support du processus de sensemaking. Une conception tridimensionnelle de la décision est développée pour analyser la dynamique, positive ou négative, qui lie sensemaking et décision. Ces propositions s'appuient sur une étude de cas portant sur la réaction d'un groupe d'acteurs confrontés à la concrétisation d'une menace pressentie : la pandémie grippale de 2009.

Prior resilience research typically focuses on either the individual or the organisational level of analysis, emphasises resilience in relation to day-to-day stressors rather than extreme events and is empirically under-developed. In response, our study inductively theorises about the relationships between individual and organisational resilience, drawing upon a large-scale study of resilience work in UK and French organisations. Our first-hand accounts of resilience work reveal the micro-processes involved in producing resilient organisations, and highlight the challenges experienced in doing resilience work in large organisations. We show that these micro-processes have significant implications for resilience at both individual and organisational levels, and draw implications for how HRM interventions can help to promote individual, and thus organisational, resilience.

Trust is a key ingredient of business activities. Scams are spectacular betrayals of trust. When the victim is a powerful organization that does not look vulnerable at first sight, we can suspect that this organization has developed an excessive trust, or over-trust. In this article, we take over-trust as the result of the intentional production of gullibility by the scammer. The analysis of a historically famous scam case, the Elf "Great Sniffer Hoax," suggests that the victim is made gullible by the scammer through a range of seduction and protection maneuvers that prevent the victim from developing doubts and suspicions. An integrated framework of the production of gullibility in organizations is proposed in order to further our understanding of over-trust. We discuss how these insights might be extended, beyond the case of scams, to more ordinary contexts of business activities.

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La responsabilité contractuelle à l'hôpital Un modèle fonctionnel malgré tout ? Cet article examine le modèle formel de reddition de comptes qui est désormais appliqué à l'hôpital : celui de la responsabilité contractuelle. En décrivant l'histoire de la mise en place des contrats de pôle dans un hôpital public français, les auteurs adoptent un regard critique, à la fois du point de vue technique et idéologique. Ils illustrent les difficultés associées à la mise en oeuvre d'un tel modèle, déjà identifiées dans la littérature en contrôle de gestion. Puis ils montrent, en pratique, comment ce système fait l'objet d'une application euphémisée, qui s'avère finalement pertinente pour l'organisation, sous certaines conditions.

Once considered potential sources of danger, generating industrial risks, companies are now viewed as indispensable partners in preparing risk responses. However, this shift raises the crucial question of the coordination between the various actors, especially as the literature-particularly on public-private partnerships (PPPs) and inter-organisational collaborations-highlights multiple potential obstacles. This article analyses the conditions and difficulties of this type of collaboration in preparing the response to a major collective risk-the threat of an influenza pandemic-by examining the relations between French public authorities and companies before and during the alert raised by an outbreak of A(H1N1). Shaped by responsibility and legitimacy issues, these relations are problematic and ambiguous, revealing a poorly designed framework which seems to be a source of difficulties rather than conducive to the effective handling of a pandemic threat. Ultimately, the study questions the desirability of a PPP in the specific context of risk management. This study is based on 30 interviews with public and private-sector actors together with the observation of conferences and the meetings of groups that exchange good practices between companies.

It was reclaimed loud and clear. In March 2020, it became a symbol of our efforts to protect those on the front lines. From April, it has become the companion for our outings. It has been displayed as the mark that our regions/cities/employers protect us. The mask has established itself as a central artefact in this uncertain era, where we must live with coronavirus. This central role was not, however, self-evident. Much has been written about how the French State, having in stocks 1 billion surgical masks and 285 million FFP2 in 2009, let the country 'disarm'. Comments highlight the accounting logic at work (Mercier 2020), the pandemic fatigue 2 after the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic alert, the illusion of control which followed (Davet and Lhomme 2020). In 2008, I studied why and how French companies were preparing for a possible influenza pandemic. We were after human A(H5N1) cases in China, before the A(H1N1) outbreak. My exploratory study included 15 interviews with civil servants belonging to the inter-ministerial delegate for the fight against pandemic flu's (DILGA) team, Prime Minister's services, Ministries, a Defense and Security Zone 3 , as well as business continuity managers (BCM) in charge of preparing their companies, some of them being operators of 'vital importance' 4 , and risk consultants. When I recently read this old research work, one element struck me: back then, many questioned the choice of massive purchases of masks. Far from the image of an absolute weapon that has retrospectively built up in our minds, this equipment was by no means obvious. How could it prevail? What were masks (really) for? Examining how masks emerge as central for public decision-makers preparing for a pandemic in 2004-2005, this commentary aims at understanding how driving forces underlying this decision-making may have contributed to the post-A(H1N1) disarmament and explain the French government's volte-face in 2020. An imperfect solution In 2008, the French State was almost alone among Western governments to push companies to acquire masks. The issue was vividly debated among large companies' BCM, who challenged their ministerial interlocutors. It was indeed far from being a 'miraculous' equipment: it did not filter everything, even FFP2; it had to be worn with glasses and be included in a set of practices (handwashing, social distancing). Mostly, it caused discomfort, fogging glasses, skin irritation, breathing difficulties in case of physical effort, etc.

En avril 2009, les premieres manifestations d’un nouveau virus grippal humain sont reperees au Mexique. Rapidement, les grandes agences de presse relayent les inquietudes suscitees dans le public et la mobilisation s’opere diversement au sein des grandes entreprises. A la facon d’un carnet de bord, ce recit vous propose un voyage au sein de la cellule d’urgence mise alors en place par le groupe pharmaceutique Sanofi-Aventis.

Les théories du sensemaking, ou fabrication de sens, analysent la manière dont ceux qui participent à une action, et qui sont confrontés à une interruption, répondent à deux questions: Que se passe-t-il? Que faut-il faire maintenant? Les personnes plongées dans l’action ont souvent des difficultés à rester au contact du monde, et cette faillite de la fabrication du sens peut avoir des conséquences dramatiques. En s’appuyant sur de nombreuses études de cas, les auteurs présentent les fondements de la théorie du sensemaking — due au célèbre psychosociologue américain Karl Weick — et ses principaux apports. Le document s’intéresse aux différents facteurs et éléments influençant la capacité des participants à une action à rester en «contact» avec ce qu’il se passe dans «le monde». Notamment, il examine les difficultés à détecter des signes de dégradations de la sécurité, à signaler des anomalies, à adapter son action et à improviser de façon appropriée face à des situations imprévues. I...

Talk at the Brink. Deliberation and Decision during the Cuban Missile Crisis M@n@gement, 16(2), 195-203. Copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. Consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). M@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. For a free subscription to M@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 M@n@gement and the author(s). M@n@gement est la revue officielle de l'AIMS

Institutional scholars focus on practices and behaviors of actors permanently belonging to an organizational field - but what about organizations that are new and only temporary in such a field? How do they react to the field‟s institutional constraints? Based on an in-depth analysis of the architectural contest for QuikSilverRossignol‟s new European headquarters, this paper introduces the idea that such