Cette thèse porte sur l'aide à la décision dans un contexte décisionnel très complexe. Classiquement, pour résoudre de telles situations, on utilise des méthodes de structuration de problèmes. Cependant ces méthodes bien qu'appliquées dans le cadre multi acteur ou dans les décisions de groupe, n'aboutissent pas toujours à des résultats directement exploitables dans un modèle d'évaluation. Ou, lorsque c'est le cas, les données obtenues par structuration sont utilisées comme si elles provenaient d'un seul décideur, tendant à réduire par conséquent l'efficacité de la décision prise et son adhésion publique. Dans cette thèse nous nous sommes attelés à concevoir un modèle d'intégration d'outils conciliant le choix approprié d'outils de structuration pour les décisions de groupe et son exploitation efficace dans un modèle d'évaluation multicritère. En particulier nous nous sommes focalisés sur les modalités du passage des cartes cognitives aux arbres de valeurs. Ensuite nous avons appliqué notre démarche sur le cas pratique du projet ''AIde à la Décision pour l'identification et l'accompagnement aux transformations sociétales induites par les nouvelles technologies de l'Hydrogène'' (AIDHY). Enfin, la dernière partie de notre thèse est axée sur l'apport d'une modélisation multicritère pour appréhender formellement le problème d'évaluation des scénarios, formulé comme un problème de tri multicritère. Par conséquent, nous avons construit une méthode permettant d'observer et de paramétrer le comportement des invariants d'une acceptabilité sociale en général, par le biais d'une d'analyse de sensibilité à partir du cas de l'hydrogène énergie.

Expatriation from Japanese companies has been considered mainly for men. This research focuses on gradually increasing Japanese expatriate women’s experiences in the United States. Using structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) and doing gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987), gender practices and (re)production of gendered structure at Japanese organizations in the United States are illustrated. It is exploratory research without prior research focusing on the subjects. Literature review, therefore, covers three relevant areas: women in workplace in Japan, Japanese expatriates in the United States, and women in international assignments from western countries. This research employs qualitative research method to understand the social world of Japanese expatriate women in the United States. Twenty participants are gathered through convenience and snowballing sample techniques. Findings are in two areas: private and organizational spheres. Gender plays a significant role in both areas. Organizations are officially gender free, but it is time to face that women are disadvantaged because of their gender. Particularly, most of participants reproduce gendered practice that expatriation is for men or women who can work like men. Therefore, an expatriate woman with a child and another with trailing husband in the United States face challenges. Japanese companies should acknowledge that organizational system do not reflect women’s perspectives at expatriatism. Japanese expatriate women should also take an active role in networking and mentoring for greater participation of women in international assignments in the future.

Organizations make large investments in Information Systems (IS) expecting positive impacts to the organisation and its functions. Yet, there exists much controversy surrounding the 'potential' impacts of these systems, with some studies reporting broadly positive impacts of IS across organizations (Barua, Kriebel and Mukhopadhyay 1995; Barua and Lee 1997; Brynjolfsson and Hitt 1996; Lehr and Lichtenberg 1999; Mukherjee, Ray and Miller 2001), while others have shown nil or detrimental impacts (Attewell and Rule 1984; Brynjolfsson and Yang 1996; Cameron and Quinn 1988; Wilson 1993). Various authors have suggested that these conflicting results may be due to poor measurement - E.g. incomplete or inappropriate measures of success (DeLone and McLean 1992; Gable 1996; Melone 1990), lack of theoretical grounding and hence agreement on appropriate measures of success (Bonner 1995; Myers, Kappelman and Prybutok 1998), myopic focus on financial performance indicators (Ballantine, Bonner, Levy, Martin, Munro and Powell 1996; Kaplan and Norton 1996), weaknesses in survey instruments employed (Gable, Sedera and Chan 2003) (e.g., constructs lacking in validity), or (5) inappropriate data collection approach (Seddon, Staples, Patnayakuni and Bowtell 1999; Sedera and Gable 2004) (e.g., asking the wrong people, unrepresentative sample). Enterprise Systems (ES) have over the past decade emerged to be one of the most important developments in the corporate use of information technology. Anecdotal evidence reveals discontent with these large application software packages. Yet Enterprise System investments are seldom systematically evaluated post-implementation; the review process and measures typically being idiosyncratic and lacking credibility. Impacts resulting from 'Enterprise Systems' are particularly difficult to measure, with an Enterprise System entailing many users ranging from top executives to data entry operators; many applications that span the organization; and a diversity of capabilities and functionality. Despite the substantial investments made by organizations and the anecdotal evidence of discontent, systematic attempts to measure their success have been few. The primary objective of this research is to develop and test a standardized instrument for measuring ES-Success. Other related objectives of this research include: (1) to identify the dimensions and measures of ES-Success, (2) to validate a maximally generalizable measurement model and survey instrument for gauging ES-Success; (3) to develop an understanding of the state of Enterprise Systems using descriptive/comparative statistics, and (4) to identify and test an antecedent of ES-Success. With the above objectives, and in attention to the weaknesses identified in past IS-success research, this study follows and extends the 'research cycle' guidelines of Mackenzie and House (1979) and McGrath (1979). The research cycle entails two main phases: (1) an exploratory phase to develop the hypothesized measurement model, and (2) a confirmatory phase, to test the hypothesized measurement model against new data. The two surveys (termed as identification-survey and specification-survey) conducted in the exploratory phase of this research go beyond the activities recommended by Mackenzie and House (1979) and McGrath (1979). A third "confirmation-survey" was completed in the confirmatory phase of the research cycle. The three surveys gathered and analyzed data from six hundred (600) respondents. The purpose of the identification-survey was to discover the salient ES-Success dimensions and measures to include in an a-priori ES-Success model. Data from 137 respondents representing 27 Australian State Government Agencies that had implemented SAP R/3 in the late 1990s were analyzed. The analysis of identification-survey data yielded an a-priori model with 41 measures of 5 dimensions of ES-Success that provide a holistic view across the organization from strategic to operational levels. The specification-survey was employed to validate the a-priori ES-Success measurement model derived in the preceding identification-survey. Employing 310 responses from the same 27 public sector organizations, exploratory data analysis validated 27 measures of success pertaining to the 4 dimensions: information quality, system quality, individual impact and organizational impact. Data for testing the influence of an antecedent of ES-Success was simultaneously gathered during the specification-survey. This analysis, based on the Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST), investigated the influence of Knowledge Management Structures Adequacy (KMSA) on ES-Success. Preliminary results indicate a strong relationship between the Knowledge Management Structures Adequacy and ES-Success. The purpose of the confirmation-survey was to further validate the dimensions and measures of the ES-Success model, using new data, employing confirmatory statistical techniques. Data was gathered from 153 respondents across a large University that had implemented the Oracle Enterprise System, which facilitated further construct validity of the ES-Success measurement instrument was further established using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

Denna studie fokuserar på medieaktörers språkanvändning kring ämnet konsumtion, med utgångsläge i den överkonsumtion som idag råder. En medieaktör som har makten att legitimera åsikter samt har tillgång till den offentliga diskursen är de som kallas influencers. Studien ämnar skapa kritisk språkmedvetenhet hos mediekonsumenter, vilket gör studiens syfte till att undersöka hur influencers i mediet podcast konstruerar bilden av konsumtion. Detta för att se hur de, i och med sin maktposition, upprätthåller den rådande konsumtionsnormen. Studien fokuserar på en av Sveriges största podcaster: Fredagspodden med Hannah och Amanda. För att kunna se konstruktioner av konsumtion genomförs denna studie med en kritisk diskursanalys. Studiens teoretiska ramverk grundar sig i Zygmunt Baumans beskrivning av konsumism. Utöver denna ses även förklaringar i struktureringsteorin, dess syn på maktbegreppet samt i teori om legitimering. Studiens tillvägagångssätt baseras på den tredimensionella analysmodellen som ursprungligenärutvecklad av Norman Fairclough. Materialet har därför genomarbetats i tre dimensioner: textpraktik, diskursiv praktik och social praktik. Detta görs för att förstå var praktiks relation till varandra, något som möjliggör förståelse för hur språket är påverkat av, och även påverkar, rådande normer och sociala system. Utifrån de språkliga resurser som framkommit i studiematerialet har fem diskursiva teman uppenbarats: konsumtion som behov, framställning av överdriven konsumtion, lyssnaren som antagen konsument, konsumtion som källa till välmåendesamt konsumtion somidentitetsbyggande. Tillsammans kan sägas att de diskursiva temana legitimerar rådande konsumtionsnormer och materialet bör därför ses som en bidragande faktor till överkonsumtion. / This study is focusing on opinion leaders in media and their language usage regarding the topic of consumption. This due to the overconsumption that is evident in our society today. One opinion leader that have the power to legitimize and the access to the public discourse is the one referred to as an influencer. The purpose of this study is to increase critical language awareness amongst media consumers, which is done by examining how influencers in the podcast media construct the image of consumption. This is done to see how they, in their position of power, maintain the Swedish consumption norm. The study is focusing on one of Sweden's largest podcasts: Fredagspodden with Hannah and Amanda. In order to see constructions of consumption, this study is conducted with a critical discourse analysis. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Zygmunt Baumans description of consumerism. In addition to this, the structuration theory with its view on the concept of power is used, as well as thetheory of legitimacy. The approach of this study is based on the three-dimensional analysis model originally developed by Norman Fairclough. The material has been elaborated in three dimensions: text practice, discursive practice and social practice. This was done to understand the relationship between each practice in relation to the others, making it possible to understand how the language affects and is influenced by the prevailing norms and social systems. Based on the linguistic resources presented in the study material, five discourse themes have been revealed: consumption as desideratum; representation of excessive consumption; the listener as an assumed consumer; consumption as a source for well-being; and consumption as identity building. Together, it can be said that the themes legitimize the current Swedish consumption norm and the material should therefore be seen as a contributing factor to overconsumption.

Grâce à ses excellentes propriétés de résistance et de conductivité thermique ainsi qu'à sa stabilité mécanique et chimique à température ambiante et à haute température, le carbure de silicium (SiC) est un matériau de choix pour le gainage du combustible nucléaire ou les supports de catalyseurs. Cependant, une grande surface spécifique est souvent requise pour ce type d'applications. Cette étude propose deux approches de synthèse :(1) L'approche « Soft Templating ». La porosité et la structure des matériaux finaux sont définies par l'auto-assemblage supramoléculaire d'un agent de structure (SDA) dans un précurseur moléculaire de SiC. Des organogélateurs à faible masse moléculaire et un copolymère tri-bloc commercial sont considérés pour la synthèse de SiC méso-poreux.(2) L'approche « Hard Templating ». Des céramiques SiC sont synthétisées par nanomoulage de silices méso-poreuses par des polymères précéramiques. Ce procédé conserve la nanostructure du template solide et conduit à des SiC méso-poreux à forte surface spécifique.L'approche hard templating permet une bonne réplication du template solide mais la difficulté de cette méthode provient de l'étape d'élimination de ce même template. L'approche soft templating ne présente pas ce désavantage et peut, suivant le SDA utilisé, mener à des céramiques poreuses possédant des structures beaucoup plus variées. La complexité de cette approche réside dans l'étape de réplication du template. / Due to its excellent thermal resistance, mechanical and chemical stability both at room and elevated temperature, silicon carbide (SiC) is an attractive material for nuclear fuel cladding or catalyst substrates. Pore size control and high porosity are the key factors for such applications. Two approaches are studied during this PhD thesis:(1) The Soft Templating Approach. The porosity and the structure of the final materials are defined by the supramolecular self-assembly of a structure directing agent (SDA) into a molecular SiC precursor. Low molecular-mass organic gelators and a commercial tri-block copolymer are considered as SDA for the synthesis of mesoporous SiC materials.(2) The Hard Templating Approach. SiC materials are synthesized by preceramic polymer nanocasting into mesoporous silica. This process preserves the nanoscale structure of the solid template and leads to mesostructured SiC materials with a high specific surface area.The hard templating approach allows a good replication of the solid template but the difficulty of this method lies in the elimination step of this template. Meanwhile, soft templating approach does not have this drawback and may lead to porous ceramics with more varied structures depending on the SDA used. The complexity of this approach is the template replication step.

Ce travail porte sur le développement d’une technique de structuration de surface pour le silicium. Celle-ci repose sur trois étapes essentielles : la lithographie, l’implantation ionique et le retrait par voie humide. Le motif formé par lithographie est transféré par homothétie dans la couche sous-jacente de silicium grâce à l’implantation ionique. Après le retrait du masque de résine, le substrat est traité par voie humide en vue de retirer des zones localement implantées. Le motif initial défini par la lithographie est ainsi révélé dans le silicium.La compréhension des modifications induites par l’implantation ionique dans le substrat nous a permis de réaliser avec succès un transfert dans le silicium. Nous avons principalement étudié les défauts générés par deux types d’ions : l’argon et l’hydrogène, à travers un certain nombre de techniques de caractérisation. Sur la base de cette étude, les différents traitements humides du silicium ont été investigués : gravure alcaline, gravure acide, dissolution par anodisation. L’optimisation des conditions d’implantation et des paramètres de retrait humide a permis l’obtention de structures 2D puis 3D.La faisabilité de cette technique de structuration a également été démontrée sur d’autres matériaux comme le SiOCH et le nitrure de silicium. / This thesis deals with the development of a patterning process for silicon substrates. Based on ion implantation through a resist pattern to locally modified the underneath layer. Wet etching processes have been developed to reveal the shapes transferred into the silicon substrate. Thanks to morphological, physical and chemical characterizations, modifications induced by ion implantation have been identified and understood.Two ion species (argon and hydrogen) were used in this thesis in order to assess either physical or chemical modifications in silicon substrate. Several wet chemistries: alkaline, acid and dissolution by anodization, were investigated to reveal the final shape. The optimization of the implantation and wet etching processes allowed to obtain 2D and 3D structures with silicon substrate.Moreover, our approach has been successfully implemented to pattern 2D shapes in SiOCH and silicon nitride.

No description available.

Les rivières en tresses sont des grandes rivières alluviales de piémont montagneux à forte dynamique spatio-temporelle et à géomorphologie particulière. Leur cours traverse alternativement de vastes plaines et des rétrécissements de vallées ou canyons. Cette géomorphologie influence fortement les échanges d’eau entre la rivière avec sa nappe souterraine et sur l’épaisseur sédimentaire. Les échanges d’eau entre la rivière et sa nappe se produisent à différentes échelles allant de la vallée jusqu’à des bancs de graviers et peuvent créer des filtres biotiques et abiotiques qui influencent les communautés d’invertébrés. Les canyons créent des zones de moindre épaisseur sédimentaire voire d’absence de sédiments et peuvent représenter de fortes barrières à la dispersion pour des organismes inféodés au milieu sédimentaire souterrain. Ce travail de thèse a cherché à évaluer dans quelle mesure la géomorphologie pouvait donc structurer les communautés d’invertébrés de surface et souterraines et pouvait jouer sur la dispersion d’un organisme souterrain Proasellus walteri. Les différents résultats obtenus ont permis de montrer que la géomorphologie structurait les communautés d’invertébrés en mettant en évidence une forte réponse des communautés souterraines mais pas de surface et créait des zones de forte biodiversité à l’aval des plaines. Les résultats de cette étude ont également permis de conclure sur un effet positif de la géomorphologie des rivières en tresses sur la structuration génétique de P. walteri et de mettre en évidence de grandes tailles de populations ainsi que de fortes capacités de dispersion, permettant d’écarter certaines idées reçues sur le milieu souterrain / Braided rivers are large alluvial rivers found in piedmont mountainous areas. These rivers are very dynamic systems in space and time and exhibit particular geomorphology. The river flows alternatively into large alluvial plains or narrowing parts (also defined as canyons). This geomorphology impacts groundwater-surface water exchanges and sedimentary thickness. Groundwater-surface water exchanges occur at different scales, then interacting to shape biotic and abiotic filters for invertebrate communities. Canyons can reduce sedimentary continuity or interrupt it and may represent strong barriers to dispersal for sedimentary-dwelling organisms. This present work aimed at evaluating the effects of geomorphology in invertebrate community structure and as a potential barrier to dispersal in the subterranean organism Proasellus walteri. The different results obtained have shown that geomorphology structured invertebrate communities, highlighting a strong response in groundwater communities but not in surface communities and have shown that downstream parts of alluvial plains were hotspots of biodiversity. The results of this study also concluded on a positive effect of geomorphology in braided rivers on the genetic structure of P. walteri and underlined large effective population size and high dispersal ability, then removing some misconceptions about subterranean environment

Afin de répondre aux besoins du marché de l’acier, le procédé de cokéfaction du charbon doit s’adapter. Cependant, changer les paramètres de cokéfaction du charbon, tels que la température du four, le temps de cuisson ou la composition de la pâte à coke enfournée, peut générer un endommagement prématuré de la maçonnerie des fours. En effet, la transformation du charbon en coke s’accompagne d’une poussée sur les parois du four fortement dépendantes d’un grand nombre de paramètres. Afin d’anticiper ce problème, un projet européen nommé « Swelling PRessure In a coke oven, Transmission on oven walls and COnsequences on wall » a été mis en place. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans ce programme et vise à déterminer la poussée maximale pouvant être admise par un piédroit de cokerie lors de la pyrolyse du charbon. Pour modéliser ces structures composées de plusieurs centaines de milliers de briques, le point de vue macroscopique est le plus approprié. La maçonnerie est remplacée par un matériau homogène équivalent dont le comportement varie en fonction de l’état d’endommagement de la maçonnerie, ramené localement à un état d’ouverture des joints de mortier. Afin de détecter ces ouvertures, un critère de type Mohr-Coulomb en contraintes est utilisé. Il repose sur la comparaison des limites à rupture d’un sandwich brique-Mortier déterminé expérimentalement à haute température avec les contraintes mésoscopiques issues de la simulation. Un protocole expérimental novateur a été développé pour caractériser la tenue en traction du sandwich brique / mortier / brique jusqu’à 1000°C. Les limites à rupture issues de cet essai de traction directe ont été comparées à celles obtenues par des essais de fendage réalisés à l’université de Leoben. Les résultats sont concordants et confirment l’importance de l’état de surface avant maçonnage. Selon l’état d’endommagement considéré, les contraintes mésoscopiques sont obtenues grâce à un tenseur de localisation ou grâce à une sous-Structuration. Cette étape de sous-Structuration consiste à simuler localement une cellule à l’échelle mésoscopique en lui appliquant le champ de déplacement macroscopique obtenu grâce à la simulation. L’outil numérique a été validé par confrontation avec un cas test de référence. Pour finir, l’outil numérique développé a été utilisé pour caractériser l’influence de différents paramètres tels que la prise en compte de la thermique, la mise en compression de la structure…. Enfin, la simulation de cuissons sur des piédroits complets (sains ou initialement endommagés) a été réalisée. L’importance de l’endommagement initial est clairement soulignée par les résultats. Enfin, un nouveau modèle, appelé « deux carneaux avec poutres», est proposé pour réduire le coût de calcul. Plus complet que le modèle « deux carneaux » utilisé au CPM, il donne accès à de très bons résultats pour un coût nettement moindre que celui du piédroit complet avec homogénéisation et sous-Structuration. / To face coke and steel market requirements, the coking process has to be more flexible. Changing process parameters such as coking temperature, blend composition and cooking time can damaged coke oven battery heating wall. Indeed, the coking process generates a swelling pressure on wall which depends on a lot of parameters. To study this point, a European project named « Swelling PRessure In a coke oven, Transmission on oven walls and COnsequences on wall » has been set up. This work is a part of it and aims to determine the admissible pushing pressure for the coke oven heating walls to prevent crack formation. To model large masonries composed of numerous bricks, a mesoscopic point of view is more appropriate. Bricks and mortar are replaced by a Homogeneous Equivalent Material (HEM) whose behaviour depends on the joint state. In order to represent joint opening mechanism, a Mohr-Coulomb criterion in stress is used. This criterion compares the level of stress to the ultimate tensile or shear stress at mesoscopic scale. Ultimate stresses are obtained thanks to an experimental campaign using a new protocol developed at PRISME Laboratory. The brick-Mortar behaviour is experimentally characterised at high temperature (20°C to 1000°C). To validate the tensile test developed, a second experimental campaign using “wedge splitting tests” has been done at Leoben University. Results are similar and confirm the importance of the brick surface state. Depending on the initial damage of the structures, mesoscopic stresses are obtained by localization tensor or by sub-Modelling. The sub-Modelling step aims to simulate a local part of the masonry at the mesoscopic scale. This step aims to simulate with a mesoscopic point of view a local part of the global model. This numerical tool has been validated thanks to a literature test. Finally, the numerical tool has been used to characterise the influence of some parameters (thermal, force due to the cross tie rod,..). Next, the simulation of the whole coke oven heating wall has been performed (undamaged or initially damaged masonry). These FE simulations show the influence of initial damage on the final masonry damage. Finally, a two flues model with beams is proposed to take into account compression due to cross tie rod and to limit computational cost. It permits to obtain better results than the existing two flues model used at CPM with a lower cost compared to the whole coke oven heating wall model.

A publicação do livro “The machine that changed the world” de Womack et al. (1990) tornou popular no mundo ocidental o termo Lean, que segundo os autores seria a forma generalizada do sistema Toyota de produção. Desde então, a academia tem se dedicado a estudar diversos aspectos envolvidos com o Lean. Apesar do conhecimento teórico gerado, poucas empresas têm conseguindo aplicar esta estratégia de manufatura apropriadamente e experimentar os supostos benefícios. Este é o caso, por exemplo, da siderúrgica AGR (nome fictício). Em 2004, a empresa iniciou um programa formal para transformação Lean e poucos anos depois os esforços foram descontinuados. Recentemente, novos direcionamentos na empresa conduziram à retomada destes esforços. Neste contexto específico, um questionamento foi realizado: como os esforços Lean podem ser retomados e organizados na AGR? Cabe ressaltar que implicitamente este questionamento desdobrou em uma revisão da literatura que identificou diferentes pontos de vista teóricos sobre o fenômeno Lean. Neste sentido, Fujimoto (1999), como pensador mais proeminente da escola de pensamento evolucionária – utilizando uma abordagem interpretativista – argumenta que a Toyota apresenta uma capacidade de aprendizagem evolucionária que permite a emergência de um novo sistema de manufatura ao longo do tempo. A provável ausência desta capacidade de aprendizagem em empresas que buscam se tornar Lean indicaria uma das razões pelas quais se tem dificuldade em alcançar e sustentar este sistema. Observando a descrição desta capacidade na Toyota, verifica-se que a mesma ocorre via construção social da realidade. Desta forma, uma aprendizagem similar poderia ser gerada ao operacionalizar-se a Soft Systems Methodology no processo de estruturação da transformação Lean. Uma pesquisa-ação foi conduzida para avaliar esta possibilidade na prática e ao mesmo tempo auxiliar a AGR com a situação problemática na retomada dos esforços Lean. / The term lean became popular in the Western world after publication of "The machine that changed the world" (Womack et al., 1990) which argues it is the generalized form of the Toyota Production System. Since then, the academy has been investigating several aspects about it. Despite theoretical knowledge contribution, few companies have been able to implement this manufacturing strategy properly and, therefore, have experienced the supposed benefits. This is the case of AGR (fictitious name) steelmaking facility. The company started a lean transformation program in 2004 and few years later the efforts were discontinued. Recently new directions led other attempt at lean efforts. In this particular context, an inquiry was made: how the lean efforts can be organized and reinitiate in AGR? It is noteworthy that this implicitly unfolded a literature review that identified different theoretical views on the lean phenomenon. Fujimoto (1999) as the most prominent thinker of evolutionary school of thought – using an interpretivist approach – argues that Toyota has an evolutionary learning capability that enables the emergence of a new manufacturing system over time. The absence of a similar learning capability in companies seeking lean practices indicates one possible reason why they are difficult to achieve and sustain. Fujimoto (1999) describes it operating at Toyota through social construction of reality. Thus, a similar learning could be generated applying the Soft Systems Methodology as the structuration process for lean transformation. An action research was conducted to evaluate this proposition in practice and at the same time to help AGR in the attempt at lean efforts.