LES ANNALES DES MINES
Gérer & Comprendre n°109 septembre 2012
FOR OUR
ENGLISH-SPEAKING
READERS
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OVERLOOKED DOLPHINS AND SHARKS: FLIPPER, JAWS, ORCA
What if, by following up
on Aesop and Jean de La
Fontaine, we tried to identify top executives with two animal figures
anchored
in our imagination and pop culture: the dolphin and shark. Though
seemingly
outrageous, this comparison bears references to a system of cognitive
representations and helps us better define and understand the roles and
actions
of the leaders who oversee the fate of our firms. How to tell two major
types
of managers apart, detect the behaviors, qualities and malfunctions of
each
type, and assess the potential of their being complementary on a team?
Drawing
on ethology, psychoanalysis, mythology, etymology, literature and
cinema, the effort
is made to shed light on the specific forms of each type of management
and base
this grid of interpretation on concrete cases.
THE RELATIONAL THEORY OF CONTRACTS
AND THE GOVERNANCE OF INTERFIRM RELATIONS: ON IAN MACNEIL’S WORK A formal
contract cannot, by
itself, govern intercompany relations nor, more broadly, economic
transactions.
To ensure the success of these, a relational dimension of a social sort
must
complete it. Ian MacNeil endeavored to show this in his abundant,
influential
but often poorly known writings.
TRIAL BY FACT CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT’S
POWERLESSNESS: A SMALL COMPANY’S COLLAPSE THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF HEALTH CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE UNKNOWN: THE “WORK OF ARTICULATION” IN THE OPERATING ROOM, DETERMINANTS AND OBSTACLES Stéphanie GENTIL Using the
concept of an
organizational arrangement, this research inquires into the impact on
work of
the managerial turn made in medical establishments owing to the many
reforms of
the French health-care system. This case study of an operating room in
a
private clinic draws attention to the “work of articulation” whereby
the staff
coped with this new situation. Communication was placed at the center
of the
organizational arrangements worked out in a disruptive situation. The
managerial procedures used in the context of rationalizing care
provided the
needed support for this work of articulation, which was ultimately
similar to
the work of regulation, whereby the persons involved appropriated these
procedures. Within this arrangement however, certain contradictions are
pointed
out that had an impact on this work, whence a call for new forms of
rationalization
of the framework of action so as to support this work of regulation.
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IN QUEST
OF THEORIES WHY ARE FIRMS NOW RECOGNIZED AS
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE?
Julie BASTIANUTTI and Hervé UMEZ According to the European Commission’s 2001 definition, “Being socially responsible means not only fulfilling legal expectations, but also going beyond compliance and investing ‘more’ in human capital, the environment and relations with stakeholders.” For some pundits, this deliberate decision to move beyond “legal expectations” signals an ethical turning point in firms, a new citizenship giving rise to a new field in management. For others, corporate social responsibility has to do with “capitalism’s plasticity” — its ability to adapt to new environments. Moving beyond these contradictory interpretations, this article seeks to understand how and why firms “voluntarily” go beyond their legal obligations.
OTHER TIMES,
OTHER PLACES THE EMERGENCE OF INTERINDUSTRY
WORK GROUPS: THE LUNAR SOCIETY IN 18TH-CENTURY ENGLAND Cooperation
between companies
and the exploration of new possibilities for partnerships are key
elements in
corporate strategies for innovation. Interindustry groups have emerged
in
recent years, and policies for developing relations between clusters
tend to
lift the barriers separating industries and develop a synergy among
companies
that have not been used to working together. The history of Lunar
Society, a
club that brought together engineers, scientists and thinkers from
various
economic sectors, was founded during a time of intense social and
technological
change. It helps us understand the processes underlying the emergence
of
contemporary interindustry work groups.
WHEN A FIRM REPLACES VOLUNTEERS WITH PROFESSIONALS: THE HISTORY OF CAMIF’S VOLUNTEER NETWORK Benoît DEMIL and Xavier WEPPE CAMIF, a consumer cooperative for school teachers, grew thanks to its network of volunteers, which covered every French district. From 1947 till the end of the 1960s, these volunteers performed logistic and commercial tasks, thus contributing significantly to the firm’s success. But as CAMIF became “professionalized”, this precious resource was gradually abandoned… MOSAICS
Alain BURLAUD:
“CAPITALISM, A GOD WITHOUT A BIBLE” — IDEAS TAKEN FOR GRANTED ABOUT THE DOMINANT ECONOMIC MODEL: On Jean-Michel Saussois’s “Capitalisme – Un dieu sans bible” – Idées reçues sur le modèle économique dominant (Éditions Le Cavalier Bleu, 2011, 167p.). Anne-Lise MITHOUT: Madina RIVA: IS ETHICS TOO SUBTLE TO BE LEFT UP TO BUSINESSMEN? On two books by Alain Anquetil: Qu’est-ce-que l’éthique des affaires? and Éthique des affaires, marché, règle et responsabilité (Paris: Éditions Vrin, 2008 and 2011 respectively). |
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