Abstract The purpose of this study is to describe customer-related knowledge utilisation in the collaborative relationships of professional service organisations. Within this specific context, knowledge transfer capabilities are emphasised as an important prerequisite in the utilisation process. Effective organisation-level knowledge utilisation is crucial in collaborative relationships of professional service organisations. In order to formulate a coherent service offering across different areas of expertise, for instance, it is beneficial to transfer customer knowledge between professionals, business units and functions. Knowledge utilisation across different expertise areas may also be an important prerequisite for an organisation's innovativeness and proactiveness in customer cooperation. Customer-related knowledge utilisation and related knowledge transfer processes are in this study approached from a relationship management perspective, and literature from organisation research, resource-based view and knowledge management is used as a theoretical basis. Empirically this study is based on a descriptive case study of two professional service firms in the field of business-to-business education and consultancy services. In the first case, an in-depth analysis of an organisation developing a collaborative relationship in the outsourcing situation is described. In the second case, additional views are given on organisational practices potentially facilitating customer-related knowledge transfer. Empirical results show that internal fragmentation in the professional service organisation seems to be, to a large extent, inherent in this type of organisation, and may cause many problems in customer-related knowledge transfer and thus in effective utilisation of that knowledge. These knowledge transfer inhibitors rise from an organisation's characteristics; its dominant logic, culture, structure and systems. These organisational characteristics are bound to the characteristics of knowledge itself: its tacitness, non-observability and complexity, and can have an inhibiting influence on knowledge transfer. However, in spite of the inherent forces causing internal fragmentation and inhibiting knowledge transfer, moderating practices of a well-planned relationship coordination system, customer knowledge and expertise codification, and cooperative working practices among the experts seem to help to maintain customer knowledge transfer and utilisation, and thus also continuity and value creation in the long-term relationships. This value creation can be seen to be based on accessing and integrating a wide variety of knowledge resources in order to create innovative, flexible and multifaceted service offerings. Value creation can also be based on organisational ability for generative learning in order to change prevailing organisational assumptions and to develop the operations model needed in collaborative relationship.

Cette recherche est consacrée à l’analyse de la pratique sociale de la Commission Pastorale de la Terre Nordeste 2 (CPT NE 2), une organisation laïque de l’Église catholique, dans la région Nordeste. Au service des travailleurs agricoles et des paysans sans terre, dans la lutte pour la réforme agraire, l’organisation opère dans la partie septentrionale de la zone de la canne à sucre de l’État du Pernambouc (Brésil). L’étude porte sur la période qui court entre 1988, année de sa naissance, et le début des années 2000, moment où diminue sa participation aux conflits fonciers et dans les mouvements d’occupation de terres. La principale problématique interroge les actions de la CPT en milieu rural afin de comprendre si elle incarne une forme inédite d’engagement social ou, selon les termes de ses acteurs, “une nouvelle manière d’être Église”. Pour ce faire, nous l’analysons, dans un premier temps, en regard des organisations catholiques antérieures, nées au début des années 1960, dans le cadre de l’Action Catholique Rurale. Entre ces JAC, MEB, SORPE, ACR, MER et autres PR NE 2 et la CPT, quelle est la part des continuités et des ruptures ? Ensuite, l’organisation est abordée à l’aune de son engagement dans la lutte pour la réforme agraire, des mobilisations sociales auxquelles elle participe et de ses rapports aux autres acteurs sociaux : MST, STRs, FETAPE, monde politique et autorités publiques, afin d’identifier ses formes d’action et définir leur originalité. En dernier lieu, sa pratique est analysée à partir du milieu social, des matrices socio-religieuses d’où sont issus ses acteurs et les médiateurs qui transmettent la mémoire sociale d’Église dans la région.Enfin, la recherche vise aussi à définir en quoi et jusqu’où les modes d’action et les acteurs de la CPT NE 2 relèvent des formes de mobilisation des Nouveaux Mouvements Sociaux (NMS) qui agissent en Amérique Latine et, notamment, au Brésil, à partir des années 1980. / This research analizes the social practice of the Northeast’s Pastoral Land Commission (CPT NE 2), a lay organization of the Catholic Church, in the Northeast region. Serving rural workers and landless people, in the struggle for agrarian reform, the organization operates in the septentrional part of the sugar-cane zone of the state of Pernambuco (Brazil). The analysis covers the period from 1988, the year of its foundation, and early 2000s, when its participation in land conflicts and occupancy movements decreases. The central issue is intended to question the actions of CPT in rural areas to understand whether it is an unprecedented form of social engagement or, as their own actors state, "a new way of being Church." In order to do so, we analyze, at first, from the standpoint of former Catholic organizations, created in the early 1960s, in the context of Rural Catholic Action. Comparing between JAC, MEB, SORPE, ACR, MER, on one side, and PR NE 2 and CPT, on another, which is the portion of continuities and disruptions? Then, the organization is discussed in terms of its engagement in the struggle for the agrarian reform, the social movements it participates and its relationship with other social actors: MST, STRs, FETAPE, the political sphere and public authorities, to identify its performance and define its originality. Finally, its practice is examined from the social environment, the socio-religious matrixes from which its actors and mediators who transmit the social memory of the Church in the region. At last, the research also aims to define how and to what extent the performance and the actors of CPT NE 2 result from the mobilization strategies of the New Social Movements (NMS) that operate in Latin America and, especially in Brazil, as of the 1980s. / Esta pesquisa procura analisar a prática social da Comissão Pastoral da Terra Nordeste 2 (CPT NE 2), uma organização leiga da Igreja católica, na região Nordeste. A serviço dos trabalhadores rurais e sem terra, na luta pela reforma agrária, a organização atua na parte setentrional da zona canavieira do Estado de Pernambuco (Brasil). A análise abrange o período compreendido entre 1988, ano de sua fundação, e o início dos anos 2000, momento em que a sua participação nos conflitos de terra e nos movimentos de ocupação diminui. A problemática principal visa a interrogar as ações da CPT nomeio rural a fim de compreender se ela constitui uma forma inédita de engajamento social ou, segundo afirmam os seus próprios atores, “uma nova maneira de ser Igreja”. Para tanto, nós a analisamos, num primeiro momento, do ponto de vista das organizações católicas anteriores, nascidas no início dos anos 1960, no contexto da Ação Católica Rural. Entre, de um lado, JAC, MEB, SORPE, ACR, MER e, de outro, PR NE 2 e CPT, qual a parcela de continuidades e de rupturas ? Emseguida, a organização é abordada do ponto de vista do seu engajamento na luta pela reforma agrária, das mobilizações sociais das quais ela participa e da sua relação com os outros atores sociais: MST, STRs, FETAPE, esfera política e autoridades públicas, a fim de identificar as suas formas de atuação e de definir a sua originalidade. Em último lugar, a sua prática é analisada a partir do meio social, das matrizes socio-religiosas de onde provêm os seus atores e dos mediadores que transmitem a memória social da Igreja na região. Por fim, a pesquisa visa também a definir de que forma e até que ponto as formas de atuação e os atores da CPT NE 2 resultam das estratégias de mobilização dos Novos Movimentos Sociais (NMS) que atuam na América Latina e, especialmente no Brasil, a partir dos anos 1980.

Cette thèse analyse la construction et la diffusion d’une bonne pratique de l’évaluation dans le secteur de l’aide au développement. D’un point de vue historique, l’auteure étudie comment l’évaluation est passée d’une pratique marginale des organismes d’aide au développement dans les années 1960, à un passage obligé de tous les programmes d’aide dans les années 2000. Ensuite, l’auteure réalise une étude sociologique de l’acteur qu’est l’évaluateur dans le système international de l’aide au développement. Elle étudie son influence auprès des autres acteurs de ce système, ainsi que sa capacité à légitimer et à diffuser son expertise. Elle montre comment les évaluateurs se professionnalisent par la création de « communautés de pratique » au Nord et au Sud. Enfin, l’auteure s’intéresse aux effets de « déclassement » que produit l’évaluation sur les acteurs de l’aide au développement du Nord et du Sud. Elle analyse comment l’évaluation, en produisant un jugement de valeur sur les politiques de développement des donateurs et des bénéficiaires, conduit à les mettre en concurrence et à discriminer les moins performants ; performance déterminée de manière subjective. L’objectif de l’auteur est de montrer que l’évaluation est un objet politique, dans la mesure où sa mise en pratique est déterminée par l’environnement politique dans lequel elle intervient, et où elle influence à son tour les politiques des donateurs et des bénéficiaires de l’aide au développement. / This thesis analyses the construction and propagation of a best practice of the evaluation in the development aid sector. From a historical perspective, the author studies how, between 1960s and 2000s, evaluation went from being a marginal practice of development aid bodies to being a compulsory part of aid programs. The author then conducts a sociological study of the role played evaluators within the international system of development aid. She studies their influence over the other participants of this system, as well as their capacity in legitimising and in diffusing their expertise. She highlights how evaluators professionalise themselves by creating “practice communities” in the North and in the South. Finally the author looks at the consequences that the “downgrading” stemming from evaluation have on actors who take part in development aid in the North and South. She analyses how evaluation -- by creating a value judgment on the development policies of both donors and beneficiaries -- results in creating competition among these actors and in the discrimination of those that are least performing – a performance itself subjectively determined. The author’s aim is to show that evaluation is a political tool, in that its use is determined by the political environment in which it is conducted, and where it then influences the policies of development aid donors and beneficiaries.

Depuis plusieurs décennies, l’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU) – ses Etats membres, ses programmes officiels et ses fonctionnaires – s’intéresse aux connexions entre environnement et sécurité. Pourtant, l’inscription des problématiques environnementales dans l’agenda sécuritaire onusien n’a pas fait l’objet d’une étude détaillée. De même, la littérature sur la construction sociale des enjeux de sécurité ne propose pas un éclairage exhaustif sur les fonctions des organisations internationales dans le processus de sécurisation. La présente thèse vise à combler ces vides. S’appuyant sur des enquêtes d’inspiration ethnographique – observations participantes, entretiens semi-directifs –, elle examine, de l’intérieur, l’intégration de l’environnement dans la définition et la gestion de la sécurité à l’ONU. La recherche a ainsi montré que, ancrés dans des intentionnalités multiples – stratégies gouvernementales, organisationnelles et individuelles –, les efforts de sécurisation de l’environnement à l’ONU s’articulent autour de quatre modalités principales : sécurisation par le langage, sécurisation par l’intégration institutionnelle, sécurisation par la technique, sécurisation inversée. Les manœuvres de sécurisation sont confrontées à des obstacles relevant tant de contraintes imposées par les Etats membres que de rivalités internes. Toutefois, même si peu d’effets ont été observés sur le système de gouvernance globale de l’environnement, les manœuvres de sécurisation ne sont pas sans conséquence : elles favorisent le changement institutionnel pour les acteurs sécurisants et participent à la construction d’un « ordre symbolique » constitué d’obligations et d’interdépendances. / For decades, the United Nations (UN) – its member states, its programs and its personnel – have been concerned with how the environment and security are linked. However, academic research does not offer an extensive analysis of the ways environmental issues have been promoted within the UN security agenda. Likewise, the literature on the construction of security issues does not provide comprehensive insight on the role of international organizations in the securitization process. This dissertation aims to fill these gaps. Based on a grounded theory approach and ethnographic methods – participant observations, semi-structured interviews – it investigates the integration of the environment into the definition and management of security within the UN, from the inside. First, research has revealed governments, organizations and individuals have multiple and sometimes competing motives. Second, at the UN, environmental securitization occurs through four main modalities: discursive securitization, institutional securitization, technical securitization, reverse securitization. Efforts to promote securitization may be opposed by the member states or competing UN agencies if such moves are counter to their interests. However, although few effects were observed on the global environmental governance system, securitizing moves are not inconsequential: they promote institutional change for securitizing actors and participate in building a "symbolic order" consisting of obligations and interdependence.

Les conventions internationales sont adoptées par des organisations internationales dans le but d’imposer des règles uniformes dans un domaine spécifique. L’intégration du droit international dans l’ordre juridique de chacun des États parties dépend de la méthode choisie par leur propre droit national. En France, les conventions internationales de droit maritime occupent une place particulière qui leur permet d’avoir leurs dispositions directement invocables par les particuliers. Elles jouissent également d’une grande autorité lorsqu’elles sont reprises par les normes de l’Union européenne produisant des effets contraignants à l’égard des États membres. Le statut de la convention internationale au sein de l’ordre juridique français garantit la pleine effectivité des mesures qu’elle contient, sous réserve que leurs dispositions soient pleinement mises en œuvre par les tribunaux. Le juge aura alors un rôle fondamental dans l’application des conventions internationales puisqu’il pourra influencer sur les effets de ces normes internationales et choisir de participer à l’unification du droit. Mais il sera également tributaire de certaines contraintes inhérentes à l’adoption d’un acte de droit international, ce qui limitera les espoirs d’unification des règles de droit applicables en matière maritime. / The main purpose of the international organization when adopting an international convention is to provide uniform rules for specific fields. The incorporation of international regulation into the legal system of States parties depends on the national laws. In France, the monism system leads to the possibility for every claimant to invoke the provisions of the treaties to support their claim. The authority of international maritime convention has increased when the EU regulation implemented them in EU system which implies that States members are obliged to comply with them. The legal status of international convention in the national French legal system guarantees the enforcement of their own provisions, provided that they are duly applied by the national Courts. The judge will have a significant impact in the enforcement of a treaty. His ruling can improve the unification of international law. However, the judge will be subject to some constraints that may threaten the aim of unification of applicable rules in the shipping law.

This thesis examines the effects of cooperation within multilateral counter-terrorist fora on the process of preference formation of a selected group of Western countries: the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy. The analysis focuses on the global counter-terrorist regime, a set of complex and multifaceted institutional arrangements, which were developed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks in order to harmonise state counter-terrorist responses worldwide. The study looks at three sets of formal international institutions within the regime: the United Nations, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Union. It also selects a sample of three issue areas in multilateral counter-terrorist cooperation: counter-radicalisation policies, the inclusion of human rights safeguards within the main counter-terrorist sanctions provisions, and counter-terrorist financing standards. The thesis identifies as the visible symptom of institutional effects the progressive convergence of policy outputs at member state level, and proceeds with an exploration of the processes of regime creation, evolution, reform, and participation on the part of the three country case studies. The analysis reveals that the instances of pro-institution behaviour displayed by state actors are occasioned by image-related group-pressures, triggered by considerations of the maximisation of status markers and social praise, and the related avoidance of shame and social devaluation. The thesis labels this process social influence. The study further outlines the specific conditions under which interaction within a group can activate the social influence phenomenon and identifies the main triggers of state actors’ particular sensitivity to image and shame.

For several years, knowledge has been treated as a key successful resource in business and management. As knowledge management has been researched in various research domains, academics in project management have been also interested in the potential role of knowledge management. The aim of the research is to explore the usefulness and potentiality of knowledge management as well as to confirm the influencing elements of knowledge sharing within project-based organisations. This research implemented a qualitative research method which prompted an in-depth understanding of individual members’ perceptions towards knowledge sharing in project teams. In order to fulfil the methodological objective, the data were collected by using semi-structured interviews with 26 project managers from five project-based firms. The grounded theory method was adopted as the data analysis technique of this study. It allowed the researcher to explore and analyse the individuals’ perceptions of knowledge sharing and knowledge management. As a result, this study suggests four potential influencing factors of knowledge sharing, which are trust, relationship, motivation, and self-efficacy. The research data show that trust plays a role as a basic currency between members to share knowledge. Positive and affirmative relationships with other members will make it easy to share more knowledge and lead to better quality of knowledge. In this research, the informants also imply that members would be motivated to engage in knowledge sharing in respect to workload, culture, and remuneration. Lastly, one’s belief that one can achieve certain things -self-efficacy- is also important to create improved knowledge sharing between members in project teams. The research found that the majority of the companies managed their knowledge and carried out knowledge sharing activities. However, most of them did not recognise that their behaviours were relevant to knowledge management. In this research, the author suggests that confirming precedent knowledge management and knowledge sharing activities should occur prior to adopting new approaches. Furthermore, this research explores the potential influencing factors that play a role as either enablers or barriers. Thus, project managers and management should be cautious and ensure that influencing factors are equally balanced. Due to the nature of qualitative research methods, the sample size is relatively small compared to quantitative methods such as a survey and a questionnaire. As a result, future studies will consider more data in order to enhance further applicability and utilisation of the research.

This dissertation serves as a contribution to the larger ongoing debate on the role of religion in development in an effort to move beyond an instrumental approach. The aim is to study the role of religious agents in development through the prism of contractual partnerships between church organisations and the Tanzanian state in healthcare delivery. Three Christian denominations are included in the study: the Roman Catholic Church in Tanzania (Tanzania Episcopal Conference), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania and the Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania. Three theoretical perspectives are applied to the study of religion and development: (1) an instrumental perspective; (2) a bottom-up perspective and (3) an integral perspective. In order to operationalise the three theoretical perspectives to function adequately for health sector development research, three analytical concepts are included in the framework, namely resource dependency, linking social capital and intangible religious health assets. The methodology is based on an abductive qualitative approach with the use of case studies on the three church organisations (Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal). Three key methods have been used for collecting data: policy analysis, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Each organisation is analysed in terms of their Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreements and collaborative models, their relation towards the state, their internal health policies and their motives for delivering health services. Moreover, by including one local hospital per organisation (Turiani, Selian and Mchukwi), it is also possible to integrate the local implementation level into the study. In order to capture the views of public authorities, interviewees from the national Ministry of Health and local Council Health Management Teams have also been included. By entering into PPP health agreements, church organisations have moved to centre stage and gained more influence following the latest political and economic reforms. Their attraction as service providers follows from their existing infrastructure and previous experience and capacity in the health sector. The analysis shows that faith is a key motivator and a central factor in the running of church health services. However, the fact that church organisations are becoming increasingly dependent on the state has implications in terms of their role as a critical voice in the public debate and could potentially threaten their independence as faith-driven civil society actors. Church organisations are also becoming more vulnerable financially, as they are not compensated according to the PPP contracts. The current situation where church organisations are dominating the PPPs in health has implications on both the Tanzanian model of secularism, with its emphasis on Muslim and Christians being treated equally, and the local governments’ strive towards national ownership with their favouring of public healthcare over private alternatives. It is therefore necessary to further study the role of religion beyond an instrumental approach in order to get a deeper understanding of the religious dynamics in the PPPs in health in Tanzania. / The Impact of Religion: Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy

Chief executives (CEOs) and other senior managers do not seem to be satisfied with the performance of their corporate communication managers/practitioners. Perceptions are that practitioners fail to assume broad decision making roles in organisations. They seem to be unable to see the big picture or understand the key issues in their industry -- their thinking is tactical, rather than strategic. Practitioners are focused on their own activities and media, on the achievement of communication goals and objectives -- without necessarily linking them to business goals. There appears to be a lack of understanding between top management and the corporate communication function on the latter's role in the strategic management process. This situation might be the result of a lack of strategic management and strategic communication knowledge and skills amongst corporate communication managers, possibly caused by insufficient training in these areas (Groenewald 1998a). The research objectives addressed by this study are the following: Firstly, to conceptualise a strategic role for the corporate communication practitioner at the top management level of the organisation (the role of the PR strategist). This is done by investigating the strategic management literature to determine whether a need exists at the top management level to play a strategic role. The behavioural activities of such a role were identified both from the public relations and the strategic management literature. Secondly, to conceptualise corporate communication strategy as an activity of a corporate communication practitioner in the role of the PR manager, a strategic role at the functional or meso level of the organisation. Furthermore, to differentiate a corporate communication strategy from a communication plan. Thirdly, to hypothesise a model for developing corporate communication strategyand thereafter to implement, evaluate and improve the model by assessing and comparing the corporate communication strategy projects of third year corporate communication students at the University of Pretoria, as partners in the action research process. The research approach selected is qualitative research -- an exploratory design is employed in achieving the first three objectives by means of a literature investigation. A confirmatory design is used for the implementation, evaluation and improvement of the model through the methodology of action research. In implementing, evaluating and revising the hypothesised model, this study moves away from the traditional teacher-centred approach in the classroom to a situation where students are involved in a research inquiry to build theory. At the same time, the participant community (non-profit organisations in this case) is exposed to strategic communication knowledge. They are involved in a process whereby they become active participants (together with the students and the lecturer/researcher) in developing corporate communication strategy for their organisations. The results are twofold: firstly, staff members of the non-profit organisation (as well as the students) acquire strategic communication skills; and secondly, the researcher investigates a new area of interest, builds theory, and facilitates a learning process for students whereby they obtain experience and knowledge that is applicable to practice. In conceptualising both a new role for the corporate communication practitioner at the top management level (the role of the PR strategist), and proposing corporate communication strategy as the link between the communication plan and the corporate strategy, an attempt is made to provide possible solutions to important problems in practice. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2000. / gm2013 / Communication Management / Unrestricted

The aim of this study was to develop a substantive theory for leading a change process towards achieving synergy between the business units of a globally diver-sified organisation. A modernist qualitative research methodology was followed. Casing was employed as research design. Grounded theory as proposed by Strauss and Corbin (1998) was applied as research strategy. Twenty seven employees were selected as research participants by means of purposive sampling. All the participants were selected on the basis of their in-volvement in synergy activities in the Company. In-depth interviews and re-quested essays were used as data collection methods to explore the twenty seven participants’ experiences with synergy. Two focus group interviews were addition-ally used as data collection methods. The nine participants in the first focus group interview were members of a regional synergy committee. The other focus group consisted of three executives of the Company. Participant observation was em-ployed as another data collection method during the focus group meetings as well as at one video conference on the establishment of a forum for recruitment and selection in the Company in which seven employees participated. The data was analysed by utilising the grounded theory methodology. After the conclusion of the data analysis phase, the first order constructs and re-lated concepts to synergy were further explored in the literature. A substantive theory for leading a change process towards achieving synergy was developed by aligning the conditional/ consequential matrix of Strauss & Corbin (1998) and the S-O-R theory of Partington (2000). Despite shortcomings the aim of the study was achieved. The study contributed to the development of theory, methodology and also contributed on a practical level. Recommendations for further research conclude the dissertation. / Prof. Willem Schurink Prof. Gert Roodt