The successful delivery of large complex infrastructure projects continues to challenge the civil engineering profession, with a predominance of projects delivered late and over budget. Many researchers have investigated methods and means of improving the less-than-satisfactory record of the execution of these projects. One recent research direction suggests that improvements in project delivery may not be realized until the project setting is understood from the as-lived perspective of the participants. Following this direction, the research described in this dissertation explores the personal and interpersonal dynamics operating within projects, treating them as complex social processes. The social dimensions explored in this study involve team leaders and staff engineers in a matriced organization handling a large urban design-build infrastructure project. The interactions among the participants within and across units and levels had both positive and negative impacts. The data for this exploratory case study comes from semi-structured interviews and online surveys collected at three points over eleven months when the project was in the design phase. Interviews were conducted with a limited number of individuals; the survey was collected from the larger engineering organization. From the interview data, issues which impacted project delivery were identified as the relationship with supervision, the availability of information, an understanding of the larger project context, and the response to project constraints. The survey data was used primarily to understand the social dimensions affecting two engineering disciplines, one that performed well and one that performed poorly. Issues that aligned with the performance differences included frequency of contact with supervision, the ability to make decisions, and effective use of time available to complete design tasks. Data from the two modes of investigation demonstrated strong triangulation. Recommendations for both academia and industry are provided. / Ph. D.

Outward Bound stands out amongst the rest of the wilderness organizations not only for its time-honored contribution to the field of wilderness education, but for its fundamental process and theories which contribute to its success. Academic attention in the field of wilderness programs largely overlooks the role of organizational culture. To fill the gap in our knowledge, this study synthesizes the academic conversation on Outward Bound programs and integrates it with the most consistent findings about organizational culture. Interviewing the participants and instructors of a 72-day long Outward Bound course conducted in 2015 provides clear insight into the role of organizational culture on Outward Bound, its formation, management, and impacts, as well as overall course outcomes for participants. My research finds that the culture within organizations that are built to dissolve can create meaningful and lasting cultural shifts in its members including increases in interpersonal dimensions such as open-mindedness, patience and improved relationships, as well as in intrapersonal dimensions such as independence, confidence and motivation. Drawing on participant responses, I further find that the role of subgroups, conflict, and exclusion can be contentious, contributing to instability and division in organizational culture. Conversely, shared values, familial themes, and compassion can coalesce to unify the culture so strongly that all participants reflect back on the culture as net positive and their experience with Outward Bound as one of growth and positive transformation.

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Dans un contexte de fortes pressions concurrentielles et réglementaires, les constructeurs automobiles introduisent sur le marché des véhicules dont les caractéristiques sont proches. Si les émotions suscitées par l’expérience de conduite constituent un puissant levier de différenciation, les concepteurs de voitures rattachent principalement la dimension affective aux propriétés stylistiques de leurs véhicules. Avec des innovations qui ne sont envisagées que dans une perspective fonctionnelle, les constructeurs proposent ainsi à leurs clients des prestations similaires, sans tenir compte des facteurs relationnels sous-jacents à l’utilisation d’un véhicule. Pourtant, la littérature met en avant l’importance de la dimension émotionnelle des relations sociales, qui représente selon nous une opportunité pour le Groupe Renault de se différencier, en proposant une nouvelle expérience de conduite orientée sur les interactions inter-conducteurs. Nous avons commencé notre travail par un premier terrain d’observation, dont l’objectif a été de déterminer les conditions et les leviers permettant l’établissement d’une relation entre les usagers de la route. Sur la base des premiers résultats valorisant la perception mutuelle de deux conducteurs, nous avons réalisé une expérimentation dite minimaliste comparant deux modalités de perception, appelées information perceptive et activité perceptive, dans le cadre d’une action collaborative. Cette étude souligne le rôle crucial de la dynamique interpersonnelle sur les mécanismes de la compréhension sociale : les résultats montrent l’intérêt, d’un point de vue émotionnel, d’accéder à ce à quoi l’autre est attentif. Nous nous sommes ensuite inspirés de ces résultats pour designer un dispositif de perception et d’interaction et étudier son rôle dans l’apparition d’émotions positives lors de la conduite sur route. Par le biais d’une expérimentation sur simulateur, nous avons pu faire émerger un nouveau type d’expérience de conduite résultant de la manipulation de ce dispositif. Cette thèse, sur la base d’un principe théorique mis à l’épreuve dans une expérimentation de terrain impliquant les usagers de la route, suit un processus itératif propre à une démarche de recherche-projet. Elle s’appuie sur une réalisation conceptuelle qui n’est pas une finalité mais un préalable. Elle propose des pistes de conceptions pour le design d’une nouvelle fonctionnalité intégrée dans le véhicule, tirant parti du contexte social de la conduite pour susciter des émotions positives entre conducteurs. / In a context of strong competition and regulatory pressures, the vehicles on the market share common characteristics. Even though emotions elicited by the driving experience are a powerful lever for differentiation, manufacturers mainly attach the affective dimension to the stylistic properties of their vehicles. They only consider innovations in a functional perspective and offer their customers similar services without regarding the relational factor underlying the use of a vehicle. However, the literature highlights the importance of the emotional dimension of social relations, which in our opinion represents an opportunity for the Renault Group to differentiate itself by proposing a new driving experience based on interactions between drivers. We began our work with an observation field. Our purpose was to determine the conditions and levers establishing a relationship between road users. On the basis of the first results valuing the mutual perception of two drivers, we carried out a minimalist experiment comparing two modes of perception, namely the perceptive information and theperceptual activity, within the framework of a collaborative action. This study emphasizes the crucial role of interpersonal dynamics on the mechanisms of social understanding: the results show the interest, from an emotional point of view, of accessing to what the other is attentive to. We then used these results to design a device for perception and interaction purposes and we studied its role in the emergence of positive emotions when driving. Through a simulator experiment, we have been able to bring out a new type of driving experience resulting from the manipulation of this device. This thesis is based on a theoretical principle put to the test in a field experiment involving road users. We follow an iterative process specific to a research-project approach. We propose a conceptual realization that is not a purpose but a prerequisite. Based on the fact that driving is in itself a social interaction, we suggest ideas for the design of a new feature integrated into the vehicle which arouses positive emotions between drivers.