Cette recherche étudie l’impact de la distance sur le choix du mode d’entrée à l’étranger. La revue de la littérature révèle l’intérêt accordé au concept de distance et plus précisément aux dimensions psychique et culturelle de la distance. Toutefois, ce concept fait objet de controverses concernant sa conceptualisation et son opérationnalisation. Les études antérieures ont tenté d’expliquer le choix du mode d’entrée par la distance culturelle. Les résultats s’avèrent hétérogènes et peu concluants. Ce travail tente d’apporter des réponses et d’éclaircir l’ambiguïté identifiée dans la littérature en adoptant une approche multidimensionnelle de la distance. Fondée sur la grille d’analyse proposée par Ghemawat (2001), cette recherche développe des hypothèses relatives aux différentes dimensions de la distance (distances culturelle, administrative, géographique, économique). Ces hypothèses sont testées sur un échantillon de 203 opérations de rapprochement effectuées par des entreprises françaises avec des partenaires localisés dans le monde entier. Les résultats de l’étude empirique montrent que la distance nationale influence le choix du mode de rapprochement (coopération versus fusion-acquisition). Ils révèlent que, dans le cas des entreprises françaises, les dimensions administrative et économique jouent un rôle prépondérant lors du choix du mode de rapprochement à l’étranger, contrairement aux distances culturelle et géographique. / This research examines the impact of distance on the choice of foreign market entry modes. The literature review highlights the interest given to the concept of distance and more specifically to psychic and cultural dimensions of distance. Nonetheless, this concept is controversial regarding its conceptualization and operationalization. Previous studies have sought to explain the choice of entry mode mainly by cultural distance. The results are heterogeneous and inconclusive. This research attempts to provide answers and clarification to the ambiguity identified in the literature by adopting a multidimensional approach to distance. Based on the framework proposed by Ghemawat (2001), this study develops several hypotheses concerning the different dimensions of distance (cultural, administrative, geographic and economic distances). These hypotheses are tested on a sample of 203 interfirm linkages conducted by French companies with partners located around the world. The results of the empirical study show that the national distance influences the choice of alliance mode (cooperation versus merger-acquisition). In the case of French companies, the findings indicate that administrative and economic dimensions play an essential role in the choice of foreign market alliance mode, contrary to cultural and geographic distances.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This research has been conducted by focusing on the trajectories of semiotic ensembles from various contexts that stand-up comedians exploited for aesthetic and communicative purposes. I apply the social semiotic theory of multimodality (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2001, 2006), and the notions of semiotic remediation (Bolter and Grusin, 1996, 2000) and resemiotization (Iedema, 2003) to selected audiovisual recordings performances of Trevor Noah and Loyiso Gola from South Africa; and Atunyota Akporobomeriere (Ali Baba) and Bright Okpocha (Basket Mouth) from Nigeria. I explore the trajectories of semiotic resources that the comedians used across modes, contexts and practices. I also trace the translation and interpretation of socio-cultural and political materials by South African and Nigerian stand-up comedians’ performances. The idea is also to examine the extent to which the socio-cultural and political contexts of both countries have differential effects on the choices in the semiotic resources used in the reconstruction of meanings, including cross socio-cultural taboos. The study reveals that combinations of various semiotic materials ranging from political, sociocultural, religious and personal lifestyles are remediated (repurposed) for comic and aesthetic effects. This involves translating and re-interpreting the semiotic resources across contexts and practices. In this regard, the study showed how the artists rework verbal language, images, socio-political discourses and other semiotic material for new meanings. It also reveals that although the choices of materials are similar, there is a tendency of localizing semiotic resources to particular localities and audiences, so that each artist’s performance comes out as unique to the person. The study concludes that language alone is not at the core of communication as other semiotic modes (in addition to languages) are integrated interweaving resources to make meaning. The direction of the modes or resources is multidimensional. All the spoken texts, all the non-linguistic modes: gestures, stance, movements, running on stage, postures, mimicking and others, perform vital roles to recontextualize meanings in stand-up comedy performance. Therefore, the study opens up new perspectives on social semiotic approaches to multimodality, as well as on language social semiotic and to theory and media studies. The contribution also answers the call to expand the understanding and research on the theory of ‘multimodality’ and the various concepts such as semiotic remediation and resemiotization associated with it.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur l'étude des performances des lasers à base de bâtonnets quantiques en régime de verrouillage de modes passif dans différentes configurations: laser à deux sections (une section de gaine et une section à absorbant saturable) et laser autopulsant constitué d'une seule section de gain. Nous nous intéresserons tout particulièrement au bruit de phase et à la gigue temporelle des impulsions, caractéristiques limitantes pour les applications faible gigue telles que la récupération d'horloge tout-optique ou la génération de porteuses optiques micro-ondes et millimétriques. Une technique de stabilisation optique permettant de réduire cette gigue temporelle est mise en oeuvre dans ces travaux. Nous présentons également la génération d'impulsions sub-picosecondes à des fréquences de répétition supérieures à 300 GHz à l'aide de lasers autopulsants. / This PhD thesis deals with the study of passive quantum-dash-based mode locked laser in different configurations: 2-section device (one gain section and one saturable absorber section) and self pulsating laser using a single section device.We have assessed in particular phase noise and timing jitter in optical pulses. The latter is very important for low jitter applications as ail optical clock recovery and millimeter wave generation. Stabilization technique based on optical feedback has been applied to reduce the timing jitter. Moreover, we present passive mode locked operation of a self-pulsating quantum dash Fabry-Perot laser diode at arepetition rate over 300 GHz.

Structurée autour de trois chapitres, cette thèse contribue à enrichir la perception et la compréhension des modes de consommation et des modes d'accès au livre a l'ère numérique. Nous abordons trois principales questions que sont les effets de longue traîne dans la demande de livres, la substituabilité e entre les modes d'accès au livre et l'articulation des prix des livres papier et numériques. Notre démarche est de considérer la multiplicité du marché e du livre, en tenant compte de sa sphère marchande et non marchande, et de la dualité de format du livre, papier et numérique. Nous avons dans un premier chapitre analysé la distribution des emprunts en bibliothèques publiques et étudié de la sorte des modes de consommation différents du star système. Pour expliquer cette diversité consommée en bibliothèques, le deuxième chapitre questionne l'articulation des modes d'accès au livre. Nos résultats montrent une complémentarité des pratiques d'emprunt et d'achat de livres et une indépendance des pratiques de téléchargement de livres numériques. La question du prix des livres numériques pouvant en partie expliquer cette indépendance, le troisième chapitre analyse la tarification des livres numériques. Nous avons montré qu'elle se structure principalement en miroir des prix des livres papier. Notre analyse se fonde sur trois bases de données originales, a savoir : les emprunts de fiction en bibliothèques parisiennes réalisés entre janvier et avril 2012 ; une large enquête réalisée auprès des usagers des bibliothèques parisiennes en 2014 ; et une étude des prix des meilleures ventes de 2011 de livres numériques en France et aux Etats-Unis. A partir de ces données empiriques, ce travail de recherche montre des modes de consommation et une offre du marché du livre papier et numérique qui s'articulent davantage qu'ils ne s'opposent. / This thesis enlightens the understanding of consumer behavior and access to cultural goods in the digital age. We discuss three main issues : the impact of the long tail effect on the book demand, the substitutability between books from different access points, and the articulation between the price of paper books and digital books. Our approach is to consider the diversity of the book market through its trade and non-trade spheres and the duality between book formats - digital or not. In the _rst chapter of this dissertation, we analyze demand for fiction books in public lending libraries. Our results reveal that book consumption is unrelated to the star system. In order to explain the diversity of book borrowing in libraries, the second chapter questions the articulation between the different access points. Our analysis reveals the complementarity between borrowing practices and purchase of books and the independence of the downloading of digital books practices. The price of digital books can be an explanation of this independence, that's why the third chapter analyses the structuration of digital books prices. Our results show that the pricing system of digital books mainly mirrors the pricing system of paper books. Our analysis of these three chapters are based on three original databases : the borrowing of fiction books in Parisian libraries between January and April 2012 ; a survey made in Parisian libraries in 2014 ; and a study of the prices of best-seller digital books in France and in the United States. Based on this empirical data collection, the present research demonstrates that consumer behavior and the paper book and digital book market are more often correlated than opposed.

En milieu océanique grand-fond (profondeur >1000 m), la propagation d'ondes acoustiques UltraBasse Fréquences (UBF, 1-300 Hz) est caractérisée par une forte influence des propriétés géo-acoustiquede l'environnement marin. Classiquement, des méthodes de localisation du type matched field processing sont mises en place pour intégrer cet aspect lors de l'inversion. Cependant, ces méthodes sont connues pour être très sensibles à de petites erreurs de modélisation de l'environnement, qui sont en pratique inévitables. C'est pourquoi il convient mieux de se tourner vers d’autres méthodes d’inversion plus robustes à la méconnaissance de l'environnement. Dans ce manuscrit on choisit d'étudier une quantité, appelée invariant océanique. Elle est associée à la formation d’interférence et montre des propriétés intéressantes de robustesse à de petites variations des propriétés géo-acoustique du milieu. En adoptant une approche ondulatoire de la propagation, on s’intéresse particulièrement à deux phénomènes responsables de sa dépendance à la configuration source récepteur (la prédominance du champ acoustique par des groupes de modes et le comportement différencié des ondes montante et descendante constituant un mode). Cette approche permet une prédiction précise et une compréhension profonde du phénomène d'interférence en milieu grand-fond. En couplant cette théoriede l'invariant océanique avec le concept d'énergie piégée, une méthode de localisation est ensuite proposée. Elle prend la forme d'une discrimination en immersion utilisant comme entrée l'intensité acoustique d'un signal large bande reçu sur une antenne horizontale. / Within the deep-water ocean (depth >1000 m), low frequencies (1-300 Hz) acoustic waves are characterized by very long range propagation. In this context, the propagation is largely impacted by the oceanic environment. Thus, localization methods based on classical plane wave models do not perform well. Matched field processing has been proposed to include better environmental models, but it is known to perform poorly as soon as the environment is not perfectly known. Given that the ocean is a dynamic system, it changes quickly over time and space making this method inapplicable in an operational context. To circumvent this issue, a better way is to consider methods that do not require detailed knowledge about the environment.In this manuscript I consider a quantity called the Waveguide Invariant (WI) which is known to be robust to small environment variations. In particular, I investigate two phenomenons responsible for its dependence to the source-receiver configuration: the dominance of the acoustic field by groups of modes and the frequency dependence of the Eigenmodes. Using a ray-mode approach, these two features are integrated in a WI derivation which provides a thorough way to predict and understand the striation patterns in deep-water context. Then, using this underlying physics driving the propagation along with the concept of mode trapping, a depth localization method is proposed. The input data for the algorithm is a range-frequency intensity, as measured on a horizontal line array. This idea is explored and extended to propose a source depth discrimination which is performed as a binary classification problem.

Les circuits différentiels présentent de nombreux avantages par rapport aux circuits 2-ports classiques en termes d’immunité contre les bruits de mode commun, de tensions de sortie doublées et de réduction de distorsion d’ordre pair. Leur usage répandu crée une demande pour le développement de nouvelles techniques de mesures du facteur de bruit différentiel. Le chapitre 1 démontre que le facteur de bruit est fonction de la corrélation des ondes de bruit en sortie du circuit différentiel. Il n’existe toutefois aucun appareil capable de mesurer directement cette corrélation. Le chapitre 2 présente une technique originale pour mesurer cette corrélation. Elle utilise un coupleur hybride connecté aux ports de sortie du circuit différentiel selon 2 configurations de connexion. Cette approche permet de mesurer rigoureusement le facteur de bruit de tous types d’amplificateurs différentiels. Le chapitre 3 propose une technique pour mesurer la corrélation sans utiliser de coupleurs. Une étude de la structure différentielle permet de trouver une expression de la corrélation en fonction des puissances de bruit en sortie et des paramètres S. Une technique rapide et fonctionnelle est ainsi développée sur un analyseur de réseau 4-port pour mesurer le facteur de bruit d’un amplificateur différentiel. Cette approche sans coupleur est étendue à la mesure des paramètres de bruit d’un amplificateur différentiel. L’extraction des 4 paramètres de bruit se fait grâce à la méthode des impédances multiples en utilisant un synthétiseur différentiel d’impédance. Ce travail présente pour la première fois une technique sans coupleur pour la mesure des paramètres de bruit différentiels. / Differential circuits have major advantages over single-ended circuits regarding immunity to common-mode noise, double voltage swing and reduction of even-order distortion. Their wide proliferation creates a need for the development of functional techniques for differential noise figure measurement. Chapter 1 shows that the noise figure of a 4-port circuit depends on the correlation of the noise waves at the output ports. However, no standard equipment is capable of measuring directly this correlation. Chapter 2 proposes an original technique for measuring the correlation of output noise waves. It makes use of a hybrid coupler connected to the differential DUT. The correlation is determined by using two configurations of connection between the DUT and the coupler. A rigorous and general technique for the noise figure measurement of differential amplifiers is developed from this approach. Chapter 3 proposes an original approach where no extra coupler is required. A study of the structure of a differential amplifier is performed where an expression of the correlation is calculated in terms of output noise powers and of the 4-port S-parameters. A fast and functional measurement technique using this method is developed on a 4-port network analyzer. This coupler-free approach is extended to the measurement of the noise parameters of differential amplifiers. The noise parameters are determined from differential source-pull measurements using a differential impedance tuner. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first coupler-free technique developed for measuring differential noise parameters.

<p>Background: In today’s business environment it is important to find new customers. An action that has been widely used is to enter foreign</p><p>markets. Most firms are always seeking to maximize their profits,</p><p>which can be achieved if an entry into a foreign market is performed.</p><p>Due the European Union (EU), new economies open their</p><p>borders for international trade and foreign investments. In 2004 Poland received membership. Even though Poland may be a country</p><p>with potentials, there are aspects that the firm has to take into consideration in a potential market entry. Among these are market related and firm related factors.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the important factors related to the firm and the market in order to present feasible entry mode(s) which ire can use in a potential entry into the Polish market.</p><p>Method: The authors have conducted a case study of ire Möbel AB. A qualitative method approach has been used to fulfill the purpose of the thesis. Semi-structured telephone interviews have been used for the empirical findings. The authors want to attain convincing and in</p><p>depth information in the field of interest, therefore three firm related interviews and three market related interviews have been</p><p>conducted to obtain valid and reliable empirical results.</p><p>Conclusion: The case study has led to conclusions on how ire could enter the polish market. ire’s needs and resources have been compared</p><p>to the Polish market factors and analyzed for pros and cons.</p><p>The mode that is currently used on ire’s other markets, exporting, is</p><p>working very well. Equity joint ventures have a three year tax relief</p><p>but are still considered a quite expensive mode of entry. Other entry</p><p>modes could be successful, but ire’s size and resources limits</p><p>the modes available. The thesis has come to the conclusion that</p><p>exporting and/or equity joint ventures are the modes of entry most</p><p>appropriate for ire.</p>

Background: In today’s business environment it is important to find new customers. An action that has been widely used is to enter foreign markets. Most firms are always seeking to maximize their profits, which can be achieved if an entry into a foreign market is performed. Due the European Union (EU), new economies open their borders for international trade and foreign investments. In 2004 Poland received membership. Even though Poland may be a country with potentials, there are aspects that the firm has to take into consideration in a potential market entry. Among these are market related and firm related factors. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the important factors related to the firm and the market in order to present feasible entry mode(s) which ire can use in a potential entry into the Polish market. Method: The authors have conducted a case study of ire Möbel AB. A qualitative method approach has been used to fulfill the purpose of the thesis. Semi-structured telephone interviews have been used for the empirical findings. The authors want to attain convincing and in depth information in the field of interest, therefore three firm related interviews and three market related interviews have been conducted to obtain valid and reliable empirical results. Conclusion: The case study has led to conclusions on how ire could enter the polish market. ire’s needs and resources have been compared to the Polish market factors and analyzed for pros and cons. The mode that is currently used on ire’s other markets, exporting, is working very well. Equity joint ventures have a three year tax relief but are still considered a quite expensive mode of entry. Other entry modes could be successful, but ire’s size and resources limits the modes available. The thesis has come to the conclusion that exporting and/or equity joint ventures are the modes of entry most appropriate for ire.

Background: In today’s business environment it is important to find new customers. An action that has been widely used is to enter foreign markets. Most firms are always seeking to maximize their profits, which can be achieved if an entry into a foreign market is performed. Due the European Union (EU), new economies open their borders for international trade and foreign investments. In 2004 Poland received membership. Even though Poland may be a country with potentials, there are aspects that the firm has to take into consideration in a potential market entry. Among these are market related and firm related factors. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the important factors related to the firm and the market in order to present feasible entry mode(s) which ire can use in a potential entry into the Polish market. Method: The authors have conducted a case study of ire Möbel AB. A qualitative method approach has been used to fulfill the purpose of the thesis. Semi-structured telephone interviews have been used for the empirical findings. The authors want to attain convincing and in depth information in the field of interest, therefore three firm related interviews and three market related interviews have been conducted to obtain valid and reliable empirical results. Conclusion: The case study has led to conclusions on how ire could enter the polish market. ire’s needs and resources have been compared to the Polish market factors and analyzed for pros and cons. The mode that is currently used on ire’s other markets, exporting, is working very well. Equity joint ventures have a three year tax relief but are still considered a quite expensive mode of entry. Other entry modes could be successful, but ire’s size and resources limits the modes available. The thesis has come to the conclusion that exporting and/or equity joint ventures are the modes of entry most appropriate for ire.

The sculpting of ultracold neutral plasmas represents a frontier in the experimental study of collective modes in strongly coupled plasmas. By extending the range of accessible length scales to less than tens of microns we gain access to a regime where The sculpting of ultracold neutral plasmas represents a frontier in the experimental study of collective modes in strongly coupled plasmas. By extending the range of accessible length scales to less than tens of microns we gain access to a regime where strong coupling's effects are predicted yet largely untested. To this effort, high resolution optical systems were designed, bench tested and implemented for sculpting and imaging ultracold neutral plasmas. Many complications and unexpected effects were documented to assist future experimental design considerations, including, those due to saturation and optical thickness, both of which limit the utility of 461 nm push beam modulations. It was concluded that sculpting should be performed on the 412 nm ionizing beam and real-time density space analysis is reliable for spatial frequencies up to 5 cyc/mm by using 4X magnified imaging. Higher spatial frequencies benefit from velocity space analysis due to extremely fast dynamics and low intensity levels.