Buildings make it possible for people to work together in organizations. In organization studies research, the physical aspects of organizations have been neglected in favor of intangible aspects (Gagliardi, 1996; Strati, 1999). Much of the research in management and organizational studies about physical workplaces concentrates on the instrumental aspects of offices, such as the relationship between open-plan offices and employee attitudes and behaviors (e.g. Hatch, 1987; Oldham, 1988), but it does not address the aesthetic aspects of offices. The physical workplace is part of the field of organizational aesthetics, which encompasses a range of topics and theoretical approaches, from aesthetics as a way of knowing organizations to the arts and related industries. This study explored the importance of aesthetics--beauty or its lack--in the day-to-day lives of people in organizations by exploring individuals' meanings of and experiences of their offices. At the same time, it examined the relationship between aesthetics and instrumentality of the physical workplace. How do office aesthetics matter in the way that work gets done in an organization? This study used Q-methodology (Brown, 1980; Stephenson, 1953) to explore individuals' experiences of their physical workplaces. Aesthetics and instrumentality were connected through site selection. Sites were chosen based on their combination of good/bad aesthetics and good/limited functionality. Twenty-one participants in four locations were interviewed about their offices--what they liked and disliked, and why. From the interviews, a Q-sample of statements was developed, and 19 participants sorted them into a normal distribution from "most like my opinions of my office" to "most unlike my opinions of my office." The sorts were factor analyzed and interpreted using statement content, demographic characteristics of participants, and information about the organizations and participants that was learned through the interviews. The resulting four factors gave four different perspectives on office aesthetics. One group of participants loved their work and saw their offices as an avenue of self-expression, an extension of themselves. Another group experienced considerable emotional distress because their offices did not reflect the quality of their organizations' work. For a third group, functionality was primary. For the last group, the office stood in for the organization as a whole-- their feelings about their workspaces mirrored their feelings about their organization.

Les systèmes multi-agents sont des systèmes dans lesquels des entités logiciellesappelées agents interagissent de façon autonome dans des environnements partagés. Ces dernièresannées, de nombreuses recherches sur les organisations multi-agents ont été menées etdivers modèles organisationnels ont été proposés. Cependant, ils n’offrent pas de solution pourune gestion effective de la problématique d’ouverture dans des organisations multi-agents normatives.Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressées à l’étude de cette problématique etdonc à la spécification des besoins relatifs à la mise en oeuvre de l’ouverture au sein d’organisationmulti-agent. Nous avons ainsi identifié trois propriétés caractéristiques de cette problématique: l’interopérabilité d’une organisation avec son environnement extérieur et interne, lagestion des entrées / sorties et la gestion du contrôle et de la régulation des agents. Pour répondreà ces propriétés, nous avons proposé un langage de modélisation d’organisation (OML)MOISE qui est une extension de Moise+. MOISE permet de spécifier de façon explicite lesprocessus d’entrée / sortie dans une organisation et notamment les exigences relatives auxmissions, buts, et rôles de l’organisation. Nous avons également proposé une infrastructure degestion d’organisation (OMI) ORA4MAS qui s’inspire du méta-modèle Agents et Artifacts(A&A). Nous avons défini le concept d’artefact organisationnel pour implémenter les fonctionnalitéscorrespondant aux spécifications du langage MOISE. Nos propositions ont été illustréesavec une spécification d’organisation de gestion de la construction d’un édifice. La miseen oeuvre des propriétés d’ouverture a été expérimentée avec la gestion des processus d’entrée/ sortie des agents, la négociation des clauses de contrat, la coordination des coopérations desagents à la réalisation des buts de construction d’un édifice, le contrôle des comportements desagents relativement aux normes de l’organisation ainsi que leur régulation. / Multi-Agent Technology concerns the development of decentralized and open systemscomposed of different agents interacting in a shared environment. In recent years, organizationhas become an important in this research field. Many models have been, and are still,proposed. While no concensual model emerges of these different works, it appears that theyall lack the ability to build open and normative organizations in the sense of management ofentry / exit of agents into organization but also decentralized control / regulation of the autonomyof the agents. In this thesis, our objective consists in the definition of a new modeladdressing these requirements. Ours reseaches allow us to extend theMOISE+ organizationalmodeling language (OML) in a new version namming MOISE. In this one we define an Entry/ Exit specification allowing to explicitly specify the ways in which the agents can enter orexit in or from an organisation by providing some requirements according to the missions, thegoals and the roles of the organisation. The organizational management infrastructure (OMI)ORA4MAS proposed take advantage of the Agents and Artifacts (A&A) approach. We definedthe Organizational Artifacts concept as the basic building block of our OMI for themanagement of organized and open MAS. To focus our study, the organizational artifacts willbe defined considering the OML specification of the MOISE model. We experimented ourproposal with the specification of an application aiming to manage the build of a house. Wethen experimented the management of the candidate agents to enter in the organisation and cooperatewith the other to build the house according to a specified social scheme, the specifiednorms and their contract clauses negociated when they will be admitted in the organisation.

O tema da cultura organizacional tem sido visivelmente aprofundado a partir de mudanças na sua base epistemológica (de um paradigma funcionalista para um interpretativista) e na utilização de diferentes perspectivas conceituais (de uma abordagem gerencial para uma simbólica) e metodológicas (de pesquisas quantitativas para qualitativas). Todavia, a despeito de todos esses avanços, o tema não tem acompanhado o desenvolvimento alcançado pelos estudos antropológicos que enfocam o corpo como modo de repensar a problemática cultural. É meu objetivo nesta tese, portanto, desvelar de que modo um enfoque no corpo humano propicia um melhor entendimento da noção de cultura organizacional, a partir de dois eixos teóricos que trabalham com a relação corpo-cultura: o ‘corpo artefato’ (corpo sócio-histórico-cultural) e o ‘embodiment’ (experiência cultural incorporada). Para realizar ambas as análises, parto de observações oriundas de uma etnografia organizacional junto a uma grande livraria de shopping center, a Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. O grupo de informantes privilegiado nessas análises foi a equipe de vendedores. Com base nesse material empírico e, primeiramente, com base em estudos da Antropologia do Corpo (capítulo 2), na primeira parte deste trabalho, analisei o corpo do trabalhador como um artefato organizacional que se singulariza por seu caráter dinâmico, sua hierarquização e sua dimensão política. A partir dessas análises, foi possível repensar o caráter de objeto inanimado e a pouca atenção que é oferecida para questões como classificação, hierarquização e dimensão política dos artefatos organizacionais. Na segunda parte (capítulo 3), aponto para a relação cultural pré-objetiva (pré-reflexiva) que trabalhadores estabelecem com as organizações e com os produtos que comercializam, ou seja, como a cultura organizacional é experienciada e incorporada. Para isso, parto de estudos da Filosofia e de Ciências Sociais e Humanas para buscar compreender como os estudos de embodiment possibilitam um novo modo de se conduzir metodologicamente as pesquisas de cultura organizacional e como incrementam sua conceituação. Levantei que o foco no embodiment desvela o papel ativo que o corpo tem na vida organizacional e permite uma melhor compreensão da dinâmica do conceito de cultura. / The theme of organizational culture has been visibly deepened – changing its epistemological base (from a Functionalist paradigm to an interpretative one) generating different conceptual (from a managerial to a symbolic approach) and methodological perspectives (from quantitative to qualitative researches). However, in spite of all these advances, the theme has not been following the development reached by anthropological studies, which focus the body as a form of representing the culture. Therefore, it is my aim in this thesis to unveil in what way the focus on the human body propitiates a better understanding of the notion of organizational culture, starting from two theoretical orientations which work with the relation body-culture: the ‘body artifact’ (socio-historiccultural body) and the ‘embodiment’. In order to perform both analyses, I begin with observations resulting from an organizational ethnography in a great bookstore of shopping center, Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. The group of informers who have been privileged to participate in these analyses was the team of shop assistants. Based on this empirical material and, firstly, on studies of The Anthropology of Body (chapter two), I analyzed the body of the worker as an organizational artifact which is singularized by their dynamic feature, hierarchization, and political dimension. Based on these analyses, it was possible to reconsider the feature of inanimate object and the little attention that is offered to questions like classification, hierarchization, and political dimension of organizational artifacts. In the second part (chapter three), I indicate the pre-objective cultural relation (pre-reflexive) that the workers establish with the organizations and the products they commercialize, that is, the embodiment of organizational culture. Hence, I start from studies of Philosophy, Social, and Human Sciences to understand how studies of embodiment enable a new form of conducting methodologically researches about organizational culture and how they develop their conceptualization. I indicate that the focus on embodiment unveil the active role the body has in the organizational life and allows a better understanding of the dynamics of cultural concept.

O tema da cultura organizacional tem sido visivelmente aprofundado a partir de mudanças na sua base epistemológica (de um paradigma funcionalista para um interpretativista) e na utilização de diferentes perspectivas conceituais (de uma abordagem gerencial para uma simbólica) e metodológicas (de pesquisas quantitativas para qualitativas). Todavia, a despeito de todos esses avanços, o tema não tem acompanhado o desenvolvimento alcançado pelos estudos antropológicos que enfocam o corpo como modo de repensar a problemática cultural. É meu objetivo nesta tese, portanto, desvelar de que modo um enfoque no corpo humano propicia um melhor entendimento da noção de cultura organizacional, a partir de dois eixos teóricos que trabalham com a relação corpo-cultura: o ‘corpo artefato’ (corpo sócio-histórico-cultural) e o ‘embodiment’ (experiência cultural incorporada). Para realizar ambas as análises, parto de observações oriundas de uma etnografia organizacional junto a uma grande livraria de shopping center, a Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. O grupo de informantes privilegiado nessas análises foi a equipe de vendedores. Com base nesse material empírico e, primeiramente, com base em estudos da Antropologia do Corpo (capítulo 2), na primeira parte deste trabalho, analisei o corpo do trabalhador como um artefato organizacional que se singulariza por seu caráter dinâmico, sua hierarquização e sua dimensão política. A partir dessas análises, foi possível repensar o caráter de objeto inanimado e a pouca atenção que é oferecida para questões como classificação, hierarquização e dimensão política dos artefatos organizacionais. Na segunda parte (capítulo 3), aponto para a relação cultural pré-objetiva (pré-reflexiva) que trabalhadores estabelecem com as organizações e com os produtos que comercializam, ou seja, como a cultura organizacional é experienciada e incorporada. Para isso, parto de estudos da Filosofia e de Ciências Sociais e Humanas para buscar compreender como os estudos de embodiment possibilitam um novo modo de se conduzir metodologicamente as pesquisas de cultura organizacional e como incrementam sua conceituação. Levantei que o foco no embodiment desvela o papel ativo que o corpo tem na vida organizacional e permite uma melhor compreensão da dinâmica do conceito de cultura. / The theme of organizational culture has been visibly deepened – changing its epistemological base (from a Functionalist paradigm to an interpretative one) generating different conceptual (from a managerial to a symbolic approach) and methodological perspectives (from quantitative to qualitative researches). However, in spite of all these advances, the theme has not been following the development reached by anthropological studies, which focus the body as a form of representing the culture. Therefore, it is my aim in this thesis to unveil in what way the focus on the human body propitiates a better understanding of the notion of organizational culture, starting from two theoretical orientations which work with the relation body-culture: the ‘body artifact’ (socio-historiccultural body) and the ‘embodiment’. In order to perform both analyses, I begin with observations resulting from an organizational ethnography in a great bookstore of shopping center, Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. The group of informers who have been privileged to participate in these analyses was the team of shop assistants. Based on this empirical material and, firstly, on studies of The Anthropology of Body (chapter two), I analyzed the body of the worker as an organizational artifact which is singularized by their dynamic feature, hierarchization, and political dimension. Based on these analyses, it was possible to reconsider the feature of inanimate object and the little attention that is offered to questions like classification, hierarchization, and political dimension of organizational artifacts. In the second part (chapter three), I indicate the pre-objective cultural relation (pre-reflexive) that the workers establish with the organizations and the products they commercialize, that is, the embodiment of organizational culture. Hence, I start from studies of Philosophy, Social, and Human Sciences to understand how studies of embodiment enable a new form of conducting methodologically researches about organizational culture and how they develop their conceptualization. I indicate that the focus on embodiment unveil the active role the body has in the organizational life and allows a better understanding of the dynamics of cultural concept.

O tema da cultura organizacional tem sido visivelmente aprofundado a partir de mudanças na sua base epistemológica (de um paradigma funcionalista para um interpretativista) e na utilização de diferentes perspectivas conceituais (de uma abordagem gerencial para uma simbólica) e metodológicas (de pesquisas quantitativas para qualitativas). Todavia, a despeito de todos esses avanços, o tema não tem acompanhado o desenvolvimento alcançado pelos estudos antropológicos que enfocam o corpo como modo de repensar a problemática cultural. É meu objetivo nesta tese, portanto, desvelar de que modo um enfoque no corpo humano propicia um melhor entendimento da noção de cultura organizacional, a partir de dois eixos teóricos que trabalham com a relação corpo-cultura: o ‘corpo artefato’ (corpo sócio-histórico-cultural) e o ‘embodiment’ (experiência cultural incorporada). Para realizar ambas as análises, parto de observações oriundas de uma etnografia organizacional junto a uma grande livraria de shopping center, a Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. O grupo de informantes privilegiado nessas análises foi a equipe de vendedores. Com base nesse material empírico e, primeiramente, com base em estudos da Antropologia do Corpo (capítulo 2), na primeira parte deste trabalho, analisei o corpo do trabalhador como um artefato organizacional que se singulariza por seu caráter dinâmico, sua hierarquização e sua dimensão política. A partir dessas análises, foi possível repensar o caráter de objeto inanimado e a pouca atenção que é oferecida para questões como classificação, hierarquização e dimensão política dos artefatos organizacionais. Na segunda parte (capítulo 3), aponto para a relação cultural pré-objetiva (pré-reflexiva) que trabalhadores estabelecem com as organizações e com os produtos que comercializam, ou seja, como a cultura organizacional é experienciada e incorporada. Para isso, parto de estudos da Filosofia e de Ciências Sociais e Humanas para buscar compreender como os estudos de embodiment possibilitam um novo modo de se conduzir metodologicamente as pesquisas de cultura organizacional e como incrementam sua conceituação. Levantei que o foco no embodiment desvela o papel ativo que o corpo tem na vida organizacional e permite uma melhor compreensão da dinâmica do conceito de cultura. / The theme of organizational culture has been visibly deepened – changing its epistemological base (from a Functionalist paradigm to an interpretative one) generating different conceptual (from a managerial to a symbolic approach) and methodological perspectives (from quantitative to qualitative researches). However, in spite of all these advances, the theme has not been following the development reached by anthropological studies, which focus the body as a form of representing the culture. Therefore, it is my aim in this thesis to unveil in what way the focus on the human body propitiates a better understanding of the notion of organizational culture, starting from two theoretical orientations which work with the relation body-culture: the ‘body artifact’ (socio-historiccultural body) and the ‘embodiment’. In order to perform both analyses, I begin with observations resulting from an organizational ethnography in a great bookstore of shopping center, Livraria Cultura de Porto Alegre. The group of informers who have been privileged to participate in these analyses was the team of shop assistants. Based on this empirical material and, firstly, on studies of The Anthropology of Body (chapter two), I analyzed the body of the worker as an organizational artifact which is singularized by their dynamic feature, hierarchization, and political dimension. Based on these analyses, it was possible to reconsider the feature of inanimate object and the little attention that is offered to questions like classification, hierarchization, and political dimension of organizational artifacts. In the second part (chapter three), I indicate the pre-objective cultural relation (pre-reflexive) that the workers establish with the organizations and the products they commercialize, that is, the embodiment of organizational culture. Hence, I start from studies of Philosophy, Social, and Human Sciences to understand how studies of embodiment enable a new form of conducting methodologically researches about organizational culture and how they develop their conceptualization. I indicate that the focus on embodiment unveil the active role the body has in the organizational life and allows a better understanding of the dynamics of cultural concept.