The concept of Talent Management (TM) has an American and elitism origin. Since one of the world’s biggest consultant agencies published the concept, the search for talents has spread. Strategic Management trends were developed in Sweden due to the process of globalization, but for a vast majority of the Swedish companies and practitioners the concept is still unknown. The Swedish experts are in this case the ones closer to the theory as non- practitioners. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how the concept is being spread by researchers and consultants. For this purpose, 2 researchers and 6 consultants were interviewed and the data was analyzed using two qualitative approaches: a phenomenological and a discursive analysis. The result indicated that the concept of TM have evolved into a Swedish version, and thereof been adapted to the collectivistic context. The result also showed that the Swedish consultants both create and spread the concept in the Swedish labor market. It was concluded that TM will keep spreading across companies and industries in Sweden for two reasons: 1) the development of the Swedish labor market, and 2) the younger generation is leaving the collectivistic mindset. The result implies primarily on two establishment dilemmas in Sweden: the requirement of a transparency in the establishment within companies, and also an avoidance of the term “talent”.

Les entreprises industrielles évoluent désormais dans un environnement de plus en plus incertain. Ces incertitudes sont liées à la fois à l'amont et à l'aval de la chaîne logistique, mais aussi à la configuration interne de la chaîne et de ses systèmes d'information ou encore à des comportements organisationnels néfastes. Cette thèse a pour objectif de comprendre comment les entreprises industrielles gèrent les incertitudes présentes dans l'environnement de leurs chaînes logistiques. Notre recherche se déroule en deux étapes : une étude préliminaire et principale. L'observation participante menée en étude préliminaire a permis de montrer qu'une entreprise réputée en management de la chaîne logistique a choisi de restructurer ses ressources afin de diminuer la vulnérabilité de sa chaîne logistique. Ainsi, l'étude principale s'articule autour de l'approche basée sur les ressources et du courant des capacités dynamiques. La revue de la littérature montre que l'agilité et la résilience sont deux capacités dynamiques du management de la chaîne logistique. Mobilisant la méthode des cas comme heuristique permettant d'organiser la recherche, six études de cas sont menées au sein d'entreprises industrielles de tailles hétérogènes et de secteurs d'activités variés. Une fois les données collectées et codées sous forme de codage multithématique sur le logiciel NVIVO 8, les résultats s'organisent autour du protocole de cas. Ils retracent les incertitudes rencontrées par les entreprises industrielles et s'attachent à montrer quels outils, pratiques et stratégies sont développés pour diminuer la vulnérabilité. Ces outils, pratiques et stratégies sont des construits des capacités dynamiques et permettent d'identifier si les entreprises font preuves d'agilité et de résilience. Puis, les résultats montrent les difficultés au développement des capacités dynamiques et l'analyse identifie le manque de connaissance en management de la chaîne logistique comme barrière principale. La discussion de la thèse s'oriente autour de la connaissance comme réponse à l'incertitude. La thèse met en avant un décalage entre des connaissances académiques avancées en management de la chaîne logistique et des connaissances plus restreintes en entreprises. La littérature académique s'intéresse principalement aux entreprises matures en management de la chaîne logistique. Cependant, elles ne sont pas représentatives des autres entreprises industrielles. En s'intéressant au lien entre recherche, enseignement et pratique, il est possible d'identifier que le manque de connaissance en management de la chaîne logistique laisse un espace à la création d'effets de mode à la fois dans le monde de la pratique et de la recherche. Finalement, la thèse met en avant les conditions d'émergence de formes d'isomorphisme institutionnel dans les institutions universitaires, engendrant des effets de mode dans les travaux académiques, le tout n'ayant qu'un lien relatif avec la réalité empirique. / Industrial companies evolve from now on in a more and more uncertain environment. These uncertainties are linked to upstream and downstream the supply chain, but are also linked to the internal configuration of the supply chain and its information systems, or even linked to possible fatal organizational behavior. This thesis has for objective to understand how industrial companies manage their supply chains environmental uncertainties. The research takes place in two stages: a preliminary and main study. The participating observation led during the preliminary study showed that a company, famous in supply chain management, chose to restructure its resources in order to decrease the vulnerability of its supply chain. So, the main study is built around the Resource-based view based and around the dynamic capacities. The literature review shows that agility and resilience are two dynamic capacities of supply chain management. Using the case-study method as an heuristics allowing to organize the research, six case studies are conducted within industrial companies of heterogeneous sizes and varied business sectors. Once the data were collected and coded in the form of multithematic coding on the software NVIVO 8, the results get organized according to the case study protocol. They redraw the uncertainties met by industrial companies and attempt to show which tools, practices and strategies are developed to decrease the vulnerability. These tools, practices and strategies are some constructs of the dynamic capacities and allow identifying if companies show agility and resilience capabilities. Then, the results show the difficulties in the development of the dynamic capacities and the analysis identifies the lack of knowledge in supply chain management as the main barrier. The discussion of the thesis turns around knowledge as the answer to uncertainty. The thesis identifies a gap between strong academic knowledge in supply chain management and a more restricted knowledge in companies. The academic literature is mainly presenting the supply chain management held in mature companies. However, they do not represent other industrial companies. Focusing on the link between research, education and practice, it is possible to identify that a lack of knowledge in supply chain management leaves some room for the creation of latest fads in the world of practice and research. Finally, the thesis shows the emergence conditions for several forms of institutional isomorphism in the university institutions, engendering latest fads in the academic works, having only a relative link with the empirical reality.

Syftet med examensarbetet är att beskriva och kartlägga hur adoptionen av styrmodeller kan se ut i stora företag och utifrån detta identifiera vilken betydelse olika faktorer karaktäriserade av individuella-, organisationella- och omvärldsaspekter som påverkar adoptionen. Detta för att öka kunskapen om vilka faktorer som kan ligga bakom adoptionen av styrmodeller och hur dessa påverkar. Vidare är syftet att explorativt finna mönster mellan påverkande faktorer och företags strukturella attribut för att se hur möjliga kopplingar till företagens strukturer kan se ut. Studien bidrar därmed iutvecklingen av ett mer holistiskt synsätt. För att uppnå syftet utgår studien från sju faktorer; rationella och effektiva, psykodynamiska, retoriska och mode, politiska, kulturella, tvingande samt härmande och trender som på olika sätt påverkar adoptionen inom företag. Studien genomfördes genom kvalitativa intervjuer med tio stycken stora företag i Norrbotten med olika attribut inom ledartyp, ägarform och koncernförhållande. Företagens deltagare utgjordes av beslutsfattare med höga positioner inom företaget medinsikt i adoptionsprocessen som ingående kunde förklara händelser som påverkade adoptionen. Resultaten indikerar på att samtliga sju faktorer i olika grad påverkar företagens adoption av styrmodeller. Framförallt var de rationella och effektiva faktorerna klart framträdande som den faktor med högst påverkan inom samtliga företag eftersom att adoptionsbeslutet ofta grundade sig i någon form av problem eller kris. Resterande faktorer påverkade i olika utsträckning, där det fanns antydningar om mönster mellan faktorer och företagens strukturella attribut. Studien formulerade sex hypoteser kopplat till funna mönster mellan faktorer och företagens strukturella attribut. / The purpose of this thesis is to describe and map how the adoption of management practices works in large companies and to identify the importance of different factors characterized of individual, organizational and environmental aspects that can affect the adoption. This to increase knowledge about the underlying factors that might affect the adoption of management practices. Furthermore, the purpose is to exploratively find patterns between influencing factors and corporate structural attributes to identify how possible connections to corporate structures may exist. This study contributes to the development of a more holistic approach. To achieve the purpose, the study is based on seven different factors; Rational and effective, psychodynamic, rhetorical and fashion, political, cultural, forced-selection (coercive), and imitation (mimetic) and trends that affect business adoption in various ways. This study was conducted through qualitativeinterviews with ten large companies in Norrbotten with different attributes in the management type, ownership and corporate relationship. The companies’ participants consisted of high-level decision-makers within each company with insight into the adoption process, which could thus explain in detail the events that affected the adoption. The results indicate that all seven factors influence the companies’ adoption of management practices to a different extent. In particular, the rational and effective factors were clearly prominent as the factors with the highest impact within all companies, because the adoption decision was often based on some kind of problem or crisis. Remaining factors affected to varying degrees, where there were indications of patterns between factors and the company's structural attributes. The study formulated six hypotheses linked to found patterns between factors and the company's structural attributes.