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The associational sector has gained recent prominence, and scholars increasingly recognize the dualistic potential of civil society and social capital to promote either peace or violence. However, research to date gives little attention to the large proportion of associations that influence conflict unintentionally, as an externality produced during the pursuit of other goals. This emergent cluster of theory, which centers on the work of Robert Putnam and Ashutosh Varshney, tends to generalize the nature and causes of such externalities in ways that overlook associational complexity and dynamism. Therefore this thesis explores the applicability of conflict sensitivity, an organizational planning approach that originated in the humanitarian aid sector, for understanding and improving the social impact of religious associations in conflict-vulnerable multifaith societies. The author undertook action research with two local interfaith associations in Mindanao and Singapore to test the usage of the ‘Do No Harm’ conflict sensitivity framework among religious audiences in settings of ethno-religious conflict. More than 160 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Muslim leaders contributed empirically through participatory social analysis, surveys and interviews. The study finds that ‘Do No Harm’ holds relevance and usefulness for religious associations, yet it requires conceptual and practical adaptation of its impact analysis components. Further, while the data support the importance in existing theory of bridging or intercommunal associational structures, there is strong evidence that individual mindsets and intentional human agency are equally central in shaping associational impact. Further, the public prominence of religion in Southeast Asia contrasts with Western-influenced liberal democratic assumptions, exposing a ‘religion gap’ in existing associational theory. Religious culture is shown to be a major influence shaping the formation and incipient change of group identities through associational life. Thus it is argued that wherever religion plays a public role, it should be consistently integrated into studies of associational social impact.

The discipline of corporate communication is relatively embryonic, and has developed into its current form largely through the amalgamation of salient theories from the public relations and management disciplines. Existing academic research focuses broadly on the role of communication practitioners, factors constituting excellent communication functions, and issues of integration. As such, these three broad research agendas have shaped the current corporate communication landscape. This thesis contends that whilst an analysis of roles, excellence and integration are important, prior research has failed to acknowledge the importance of the lived experience as encountered and interpreted by individual communication practitioners. This research therefore examines how practitioners interpret the events they experience and what this reveals about their lived experience. The research uses diaries and interviews to gather practitioners' talk and text. Through a fine-grained discourse analysis of the interpretive variability of practitioners' accounts, the research reveals two important interpretative repertoires employed by communication practitioners, that reveal a sense of dislocation embedded within their working lives. The research also reveals a number of themes that are prominent in their working lives, which can be understood and contextualised through adapting Dervin's (1999) Sense-Making Metaphor Model. This research also extends existing debates on practitioners roles, excellence in communication functions and issues of integration. The research shows that traditional notions of boundary spanning are not exclusive to managers, that a preoccupation with personal reputations can lead to an alignment of shared values with dominant coalitions, and that practitioners engage in their own form of encroachment in the form of penetrating departmental boundaries to educate others as to the value of effective ommunication. Additionally, the research makes an important contribution to existing methodological debates, particularly in relation to the use of diaries in qualitative research, The contribution of the research to policy and practice highlights the need for case studies to show the lived experience of the modem communication practitioner, as opposed to listing abstract tasks and responsibilities.

Notre thèse porte sur les processus de valorisation des activités professionnelles. La nécessité de valoriser l’activité professionnelle, et de fait ceux qui la réalisent, se comprend au regard de la place occupée par le travail dans la construction et l’inscription sociale des individus. Elle se comprend également au regard des demandes organisationnelles d’investissement dans le travail adressées aux individus. Cette nécessité est d’autant plus prégnante que nous nous situons dans le cadre organisationnel et professionnel des activités de service, et plus précisément de l’hôtellerie de chaîne entachée par sa proximité avec la domesticité. Ces processus de valorisation s’articulent à un ethos à l’égard du travail marqué par l’entrepreneuriat de soi, positionnant l’individu entrepreneur de lui-même et de son devenir comme modèle. Le rapport ambivalent entre l’hôtellerie de chaîne et l’ethos de l’entrepreneuriat de soi, fait de distance et de recherche de proximité, dessine un continuum de valorisation sur lequel se positionnent et sont positionnées les différentes activités professionnelles présentes au sein des organisations étudiées. L’analyse des processus de valorisation nous amène à questionner les hiérarchies sociales de métiers, formelles et informelles. Au travers du rôle de l’organisation et des logiques d’actions des individus dans la construction de ces hiérarchies, les processus de valorisation nous donnent à voir un monde social pluriel marqué à la fois par du commun et par une logique de différenciation. / This thesis is about the valorization processes of professional activities. The necessity of valorizing professionalactivity, and thus the people involved, is obvious when taking into account the importance of work in theconstruction and social inscription of individuals as well as the organizational demands of investment placed onthe individuals at work. This necessity is paramount in the organizational and professional context of serviceactivities, and particularly in the chain hotel business. These valorization processes are connected to a workethos based on self entrepreneurship, in which the individual becomes an entrepreneur of himself and of hisfuture. The ambiguous relation between the chain hotel business and the self entrepreneurship ethos, acombination of distance and search for proximity, creates a valorization continuum on which the differentprofessional activities are positioned or position themselves. The analysis of those valorization processesquestions the social work hierarchies, both formal or informal. Through the study of the role of organization andindividual or collective action in the construction of those hierarchies, the valorization processes reveal a pluralsocial world, combining common elements and a fair amount of differentiation logic.

Organisational citizenship behaviour has been an active field of research for over three decades with research typically focusing on helpful and sportsmanlike behaviours or, conversely, examining destructive or criminal acts. Between these two is the frequently ignored civic virtue which includes questioning, making suggestions and challenging organisational norms. Civic virtue is the least researched, least performed, and the least popular organisational behaviour with it often being deemed an act of deviancy. Yet importantly, in terms of the transforming public service agenda, it is also the organisational behaviour that links most closely with organisational improvement. In pursuing this under-researched field, interpretivism provides a salient philosophical framework for the operationalisation of the thesis which utilises an in-depth qualitative approach to explore the lived realities of public servants, and seeks to advance the limited knowledge of civic virtue, set against the backdrop of public service citizenship. Using the lens of symbolic interactionism the thesis contributes an incremental advance in research method; specifically projective image elicitation, by using the metaphorical power of contextualised cartoon images to explore individuals’ perception of the workplace and their The thesis proposes a contribution to theory in recommending that public service citizenship promotes a predilection to bifurcate behaviours demonstrated by others and self into the act and underpinning values. Within public services this interpretative process gives precedence to the underpinning values; and promotes an environment where disdained behaviours are pardoned if the underpinning values are deemed honourable. This concept is termed value governance. Drawing on value governance, a model emerged which indicates that public servants predominately enact civic virtue when they perceive their values are seriously contested; otherwise their collectivist tendencies are dominant The discovery of value governance is significant in informing the conception of a dialogic public service citizenship; a citizenship which has its foundation in publicness but which is also able to face the challenges of civicness.

Past research on organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) has often prescribed to a number of preconceived assumptions predominately focused on the positive aspects of OCB performance. Using a sequential mixed-method approach, this thesis tests some of these assumptions considering whether researchers, organisations and other stakeholder should subscribe to the notion that OCBs are always positive. Specifically the thesis examines how OCBs are conceptualised by the employees who experience them in their organisational lives and the extent that culture plays in performance and outcomes of OCB. Study one interviewed five British and five Asian participants on their experiences and conceptualisation of OCBs. The interviews were analysed using the Grounded Theory approach which allowed two main theories to emerge from the data. Firstly, congruence or incongruence of employee and supervisor perceptions of OCB as in or extra role effects the motivation, performance and outcomes. Secondly, employees perform impression management motivated OCBs to facilitate the obtainment of their goals. In addition, cultural differences between the responses of the British and Asian participants were found, suggesting a more complex cultural relationship. Based on these findings, the second study presented OCB and impression management scenarios to 64 British participants and 70 Indonesian participants. The results of this study found that participants were able to distinguish between OCB and impression management behaviours. In addition, the perception of these behaviours as OCB or impression management affected the outcome of the behaviours. British participants' ratings of the effect of OCB and impression management behaviours were found to be more distinct than their Indonesian counterparts, suggesting that Indonesian employees may be more accepting of their co-workers performance of impression management behaviours. The final study examined the relationship between OCB motives, performance and outcomes of OCB performance by 141 Indonesian employees. Results showed that prosocial motives predicted the performance of affiliative and challenging behaviours; however other OCB motives did not predict OCB performance. In addition, affiliative and challenging behaviours predicted positive outcomes for employees, while compulsory citizenship behaviours were associated with negative outcomes. Collectivists and individualists were found to react in converse manners to the performance of affiliative and challenging behaviours. The findings of this thesis found some support for the basic assumptions of OCBs; however, the findings also found contradictions to the assumptions, as well as identifying cultural differences in the conceptualisation, performance and outcomes to OCB performance.

A partir d’une intervention réalisée à la SNCF auprès de deux collectifs d’agents commerciaux et d’escale en gare, cette thèse explore la fonction de l’activité transférentielle qui peut se déployer durant l’intervention. Nous cherchons à expliquer la manière dont les « mouvements de places » du chercheur et/ou des professionnels à l’œuvre dans le dispositif clinique peuvent constituer une ressource pour le développement du métier.Une analyse multimodale de nos matériaux, issus principalement des autoconfrontations croisées, s’attache à repérer d’une part les indices de présence d’une activité transférentielle dans l’activité dialogique en cours, et d’autre part les indices d’un développement du métier. Ces résultats nous amènent à proposer une conceptualisation de l’activité transférentielle. Sa spécificité est son objet : soit il consiste à assigner l’autre (ou soi-même) à une place, soit il consiste à faire varier la place (la sienne ou celle de l’autre). L’activité transférentielle peut être tout autant subie que maniée, par le chercheur et/ou par le professionnel. C’est l’interférence de deux activités transférentielles qui peut être motrice et favoriser un développement du métier sur ces différents registres. Nous concluons sur le développement de l’activité transférentielle et son nomadisme « fonctionnel ». L’activité transférentielle est à la fois une activité à part entière, le produit d’une autre activité et un instrument psychologique au service de l’activité en cours.Les perspectives ouvertes par ce travail concernent le potentiel transformateur de l’activité transférentielle, dont le dispositif d’intervention, et notamment l’activité de l’intervenant dans les comités de pilotage, doit pouvoir tirer profit. / Based on an intervention realised in SNCF company for two groups of commercial and station agents, this thesis explores the function of the transferential activity than can be deployed during intervention. We seek to explain the way « the motion of places » which are implemented in the clinical intervention, can be a resource for the development of the job. A multimodale analysis of research materials which mainly come from crossed-confrontation focuses on two types of signs. On the one hand, the presence of a transferential activity indices in the dialogical activity, and the other hand, the signs of the development of the job. This results leads us to present a model of transferential activity. This specificity is her object. Either it assigns the other person (or oneself) a place, or it makes the place change (his or her own or someone else’s one). The transferential activity can be suffered as well as used by the researcher or the professional. It’s the interference of both transferential activities that can be driving force and promote a development of the job on these differents registers. We conclude with the development of the transferential activity and its « functional » nomadism. The transferential activity is not only an activity in its own rightn but it is also the product of another activity. And, finally, it is a psychological instrument to the benefit of the current activity. The perspectives opened by this work concern the transformative potential of the transferential activity. The professional’s activity in the steering committees must be developed.

Using a grounded theory approach, two case studies were carried out in large organisations which have recently implemented family-friendly policies. The studies asked whether or not cultural change has taken place as a result of the implementation of these policies. Using Shein's (1992) three level model and definition of culture, attention was focused on underlying assumptions or 'root' facets of organisational culture (and conceptual distinctions made between culture, image and identity). After establishing which facets are present and how they exist in combination with each other, shifts which have taken place as a direct or indirect result of the introduction of policies were identified. Especial interest was taken in the way the primacy of work was expressed through the ideal worker type and the extent to which this type has been replaced by the integrated worker type (Rapoport et al 2002), which acknowledges that family and other commitments are as legitimate as occupational demands. Both studies conclude that, as yet, there have been only slight adjustments in the construction of this ideal worker type and that employees do not make a permanent shift towards the integrated worker type but `toggle' between these two types. Explanations are developed for shifts in other cultural facets, such as the importance of autonomy, emphases on equality or individuation, sense of entitlement and attitudes to change. The utility of the notion of purposive cultural change is considered, given that high levels of anxiety are released when unconscious and shared mental structures are destabilised in such processes of organizational learning. The merits of a more evolutionary model are explored.

The general aim of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between organisational culture and organisational commitment in a consulting firm in South Africa. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used on a non-probability sample (n=68) from an identified consulting firm in South Africa, utilising the Organisational Culture Questionnaire (Harrison & Stokes, 1992) and Organisational Commitment Scale (Meyer & Allen, 1997). The results were analysed using Pearson’s correlation analysis and indicated that there is no relationship between organisational culture and organisational commitment in the consulting firm / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Cette thèse étudie la notion de culture de sûreté, nouveau « mantra » des organisations à haut risque (Silbey, 2009). Apparue à la fin des années 1980 afin de mieux prendre en compte l’organisation dans la gestion de la sécurité nucléaire, elle est aujourd'hui très utilisée dans les discours comme dans les politiques managériales des entreprises à haut risque. L’enquête ethnographique, menée par observations de situations de travail, d’entretiens et de l’analyse de documents, permet d’étudier la construction sociale de la notion de culture de sûreté, ses représentations, ses usages et son influence sur l’organisation du travail dans les centrales nucléaires. La thèse appréhende la culture de sûreté comme un objet hybride entre un discours qui serait diffusé dans les industries à risque et un outil de gestion de la sécurité. Elle analyse comment la notion de culture de sûreté s’est installée dans différents espaces sociaux de l’industrie nucléaire grâce à sa flexibilité interprétative : experts internationaux de la sécurité nucléaire, chercheurs des sciences de la sécurité industrielle, dirigeants de la division production nucléaire d’EDF et managers de proximité des centrales nucléaires. La comparaison des systèmes d’action de trois centrales nucléaires montre que dans un univers hautement normé et procéduralisé, la culture de sûreté est devenue un outil, de nature essentiellement discursive. Les managers s’en saisissent pour agir sur les contraintes qui pèsent sur eux et les rapports de pouvoir dans lesquels ils inscrivent leur action, de manière à rendre leur travail plus efficace. La thèse met ainsi en avant la capacité des discours à agir concrètement sur le travail. / This thesis examines the concept of safety culture, new 'mantra' of high risk organizations (Silbey, 2009). It appeared in the late 1980s in order to better reflect the organization in the management of nuclear safety, and it is now widely used in the discourse as in the managerial policies of high-risk industry companies. The ethnographic investigation, based on observations, interviews and document analysis, analyzes the social construction of the concept of safety culture, its representations, its uses and its influence on the organization of work in nuclear power plants. The thesis reveals safety culture as a hybrid object between a speech that would be broadcast in high-risk industries and a security management tool. It analyzes how the notion of safety culture has settled in different social spaces of the nuclear industry thanks to its interpretative flexibility: international experts on nuclear safety, “safety science” researchers, EDF’s central administration and team managers in nuclear power plants. The comparison of three nuclear power plants’ local orders shows that in a highly standardized and proceduralized universe, safety culture has essentially become a discursive tool. Managers seize it to act on the constraints laid upon them and power relations in which they act, so as to make their work more effective. Thus, the thesis puts forward the ability of speech to act concretely on the organization of work.