This research explores the role of public interest litigants in the circulation of arguments among courts regarding the interpretation of fundamental rights. Such circulation is often labeled ‘judicial dialogue’. ‘Public interest litigants’ are here defined as entities (individuals or groups) with no direct interest in the case, who use procedural avenues to participate in the litigation. Despite extensive scholarly attention for judicial dialogue, the necessity for more empirical research devoted to the exchanges among jurisdictions had been stressed. Three jurisdictions with different postures towards cross-citations were chosen for the analysis: the U.S. Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights and the South African Constitutional Court. Among their vast case law, landmark cases were selected dealing firstly with death penalty or related questions and secondly with discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Briefs submitted by public interest litigants to courts were collected and analyzed, mainly to inquire about the identity of the actors involved in the cases, to see whether their briefs contain comparative material and, if they do, to record what sort of references are made and whether they are accompanied by justifications supporting their relevance.The analysis reveals that the briefs contain comparative material. Many public interest litigants can be considered as messengers of this information. They push for the detachment of judicial interpretation from the text at hand and propose a variant of the interpretative exercise in which the mobilized material is not exclusively jurisdiction-bound. The cross-analysis also reveals that, contrary to the picture painted by the literature on the phenomenon, there are actually many comparisons in the broad sense (referring for example to a ‘universal practice’) that are used in a norm-centric way, that is, where the simple mention of a comparative element in the form of a broad reference or the outcome of a foreign case should have weight in the adjudication and not in a reason-centric way, that is, by exposing the reasoning of a foreign judge. The research also hypothesized that the comparative material brought by public interest litigants influences the judges. Analyzing the cases using the process-tracing method allowed to substantiate that briefs are read and established that several comparative references brought by public interest litigants were debated during the oral arguments and found an echo in the judgments (in majority and dissenting opinions). Along with the use of other methods such as interviews of judges, the hypothesis was thus confirmed.Exploring the roles of external actors also enables to supply the literature on judicial dialogue with factual insights regarding the identities of the actors behind the circulation of legal arguments. It was found that, in the United States, the traditional domestic ‘repeat players’ (that is, actors often involved in the litigation) do not clearly embrace a comparative approach while most public interest litigants in Europe and South Africa do. Similarly, the pregnant role of transnational actors is underlined. The analysis suggests an explanation drawn from an aspect of the legal culture in which the public interest litigants evolve and which influences their argumentative strategies: the horizon of the ambient rights discourse: a civil rights discourse, more territorially bounded (and more often found in the U.S. context), is distinguished from a human rights or fundamental rights discourse which entails a more cosmopolitan dimension.The final part of the research explores and discusses the justifications provided by public interest litigants to support the relevance of a comparative approach in the interpretation of rights. The compilation of these justifications allows to confront those provided first hand to the judges with those constructed post facto by the scholarly literature. It reveals the uncertain implications of some of these justifications, in particular the one pointing to the universal nature of the discussed rights and the one invoking the need for consistency among the approaches of jurisdictions.The research thus allows to confirm the hypothesis that public interest litigants play a key role in judicial dialogue. Moreover, it points at further promising researches, and this thesis hopes to draw the attention to often neglected elements, such as the identity and status of the actors bringing comparative information, the forms of citations and the roles assigned to them, the aspects of legal culture that are seldom mentioned in the literature and the implications of the justifications explicitly or implicitly provided for the relevance of comparative material. / Doctorat en Sciences juridiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The construction industry’s world is very complex, competitive and challenging. That means that everyone who is involved needs to be constantly updated and follow the latest technological trends and ideas to be able to work on a viable project by minimizing the problems.  Nevertheless, there are always different complications that arise mainly because there is not much attention given to logistics and logistics solutions. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the major problems in the Swedish construction industry as well as their corresponding logistics solutions applied by different companies. Moreover, this research will try to investigate how the use of the fairly new concept of Construction Consolidation Centers can improve the situation primarily with the material transportation. The current thesis was conducted by investigating the relevant literature and arranging interviews with a few of the many consultant companies working in the construction industry. The outcomes from both investigations are analyzed and compared showing that there are important differences between the theory (literature review) and the reality (interviews) as some of the main problems in real projects do not appear in the current literature. It is also clearly exposed that Construction Consolidation Centers are a game changer to this kind of projects and such a solution is suggested from both sides, while there is high necessity from the companies to emphasize on the logistics and invest more on their logistics solutions.

Ce travail doctoral a pour objectif d’analyser la notion de soutien à l’innovation par les compétences des pôles de compétitivité en faveur des PME de hautes technologies. Plus précisément cette recherche consiste à réaliser une approche critique de l’intervention par les compétences telle qu’elle est préconisée par les institutions publiques, au profit d’une intervention en gestion des connaissances (Knowledge Management). Pour ce faire nous exploitons le champ conceptuel du KM en PME et démontrons l’encastrement des process de KM dans l’activité de la PME et l’organisation. Si le lien conceptuel entre activité et organisation a déjà été travaillé par la littérature, nous nous concentrons ici sur son opérationnalisation dans le cadre de la PME de hautes technologies pour soutenir l’innovation. Nous mobilisons dans le cadre de notre bourse CIFRE, une méthodologie PAR (Participatory Action Research) permettant d’investir le pôle de compétitivité OPTITEC. L’intérêt de cette méthodologie vient de sa possibilité d’intégrer les acteurs et partenaires opérationnels dans l’activité de recherche. Nous articulons ainsi le cadre théorique du KM en PME de hautes technologies puis suggérons un repositionnement du pôle de compétitivité sur la base de cette création de connaissance. Deux niveaux de résultats sont alors proposés. Le premier niveau consiste à identifier l’opérationnalisation du KM soutenant l’innovation au sein de la PME de hautes technologies. Le second réinterroge le rôle du pôle en tant que « Tiers » dans le soutien à l’innovation des PME de hautes technologies. / The purpose of this doctoral research is to analyse the notion of innovation support through skills from clusters in regard to high-technology SMEs. More specifically, it intends to undertake a critical review of Competency Management implementation - as recommended by public institutions, in favour of Knowledge Management implementation. Therefore, we exploit the conceptual field of KM in SMEs and demonstrate the embedding of KM processes within SMEs’ business activity and organisation. Although the conceptual link between business activity and organisation has been already covered in the literature, we are here focusing on its operationalisation in high-tech SMEs to support innovation. Within the context of our CIFRE grant, we have applied a PAR Methodology (Participatory Action Research) allowing to study the OPTITEC cluster. The interest of this methodology lies in the ability to integrate key actors and implementing partners into the research activity. Thus, we frame the theoretical concept of KM in high-tech SMEs and imply a repositioning of the competitiveness cluster on the basis of this knowledge creation. Two levels of results are provided. The first consists of identifying the operationalization of KM supporting innovation within high-technology SMEs. The second one challenges the cluster’s role as a ‘third party’ in supporting innovation within high-tech SMEs.

La notion de « tiers » est complexe et relève d’une grande transdisciplinarité. Les définitions afférentes ont cependant pour trait commun de l’envisager comme qualifiant la posture d’un Etat à l’écart d’un processus politique ou juridique. Relégué ainsi à un rang subsidiaire, le tiers semble désigner l’Etat considéré comme étranger au mécanisme principal à l’œuvre. Le propos de ce travail de recherche a été de s’interroger sur l’acception stratégique du tiers en tant que dépassement de la posture passive classique. Ainsi, le tiers incarne l’expression d’une identité stratégique médiane pour certains Etats développant une réponse particulière à l’égard des contraintes auxquelles leur environnement les soumet. La voie du tiers s’affirme alors comme une alternative à la lecture classique des logiques de puissance en relations internationales. Rétablissant le tiers dans sa dimension stratégique, il s’agit d’écarter la vision d’un Etat tiers exclusivement subi et d’en appréhender les différentes déclinaisons, du tiers objet au tiers sujet.Dans cette perspective, trois modèles de tiers sont convoqués à titre illustratif. La neutralisation de l’Autriche, la finlandisation de la Finlande, et la neutralité de la Suisse. Ces trois cas d’étude ont pour vocation de démontrer de la capacité stratégique de la dénomination d’ « Etat tiers » par la mise en pratique de la grille d’analyse théorique élaborée en première instance. / The notion of "third party" is complex and pertains to a certain transdisciplinarity. The concerned definitions have however for common line to envisage it as qualifying the posture of a State away from a political or legal process. Relegated so to a supplementary rank, the third-party seems to indicate the State considered as foreign to the main mechanism at work.The purpose of this research work was to wonder about the strategic dimension of the meaning of the third as overtaking of the classic passive posture. So, the third embodies the expression of a median strategic identity for some States developing a particular answer towards the constraints to which their environment submits them. The way of the third asserts itself then as an alternative in the classic reading of the logics of power in international relations. Restoring the third in its strategic dimension, it is a question of deviating from the vision of an exclusively undergone third State and of considering the various declensions, from the third as object to the third as subject.In this perspective, three models of third are summoned to illustrative title. The neutralization of Austria, the Finlandization of Finland, and the neutrality of Switzerland. This three study cases have for vocation to demonstrate of the strategic capacity of the category of "third State" by the implementation of theoretical framework established at first instance.

This thesis is focused on the question whether implementing of a malus policy into a bonus-malus system encourages drivers to be more responsible on the road. The drivers should be motivated to change their behaviour be aimed at decrease of reported insurance events because this system increases their premium whenever they are in an accident. To answer the given problem I used regression analysis with a random effects model and I analysed the drivers registered at insurance company Allianz in years 2000 - 2005. The result of this analysis shows that there was no change in the behaviour since the malus policy was introduced. The examined impact has been detected in case which was interacting with a different variable. The malus policy had the impact on a reduction of accidents in regions below 10 000 inhabitants. This thesis is also focused on the influence of driver characteristic and technical properties of his vehicle on reported insurance events. Tested variables are sex of the drivers, region of driver's residence, age and engine capacity. All explanatory variables have effect on the reported insurance events.

[pt] A terceirização das atividades logísticas é uma prática crescente no contexto atual e constitui uma estratégia de gestão para gerar vantagens competitivas. Apesar do aumento do interesse acadêmico sobre prestadores de serviços logísticos (PSL), são poucos os estudos que dedicam especial ênfase a sintetizar o estado da arte sobre PSL, sendo que as revisões de literatura na área existem apenas em língua inglesa. Assim, como objetivo desta dissertação é apresentada uma revisão sistemática da literatura em português sobre prestadores de serviços logísticos, comparando os resultados obtidos com revisões sistemáticas da literatura sobre PSLs disponíveis em língua inglesa. As publicações de interesse foram localizadas nas bases eletrônicas de dados Emeraldinsight, ScienceDirect, Scielo (Scientific Electronic Library Online), Google Acadêmico, e periódicos da CAPES. Utilizou-se o modelo (framework) de Marasco (2007) e o modelo de Maloni e Carter (2006) para organizar as informações da literatura sobre PSL. O modelo de Marasco (2007) inclui o contexto, a estrutura, o processo e os resultados do relacionamento Cliente- PSL. O modelo de Maloni e Carter (2006), também utilizado para guiar a revisão, forneceu as bases para estabelecer as variáveis de análise das informações, sendo elas: 1) definições sobre PSL, 2) motivadores para se terceirizar a logística, 3) inibidores, 4) processo de terceirização de serviços logísticos, 5) critérios de seleção e/ou avaliação de PSLs, 6) indicadores de desempenho, 7) atividades terceirizadas e 8) pesquisas futuras. Os resultados indicam que os modelos permitem identificar e organizar de forma eficiente os principais assuntos sobre PSLs, bem como as limitações das investigações existentes, oferecendo possibilidades de pesquisas futuras. Ao comparar os resultados obtidos com revisões sistemáticas da literatura sobre PSL em língua inglesa, são identificados vários aspectos em comum, mas também assuntos que diferem, e que são característicos dos PSLs do Brasil. Isso evidencia o fato de que a análise da terceirização da logística pode variar de acordo com a região e são necessários estudos que continuem ampliando o escopo geográfico da pesquisa sobre PSLs. / [en] The outsourcing of logistics activities is a growing practice in the current context, and it’s a management strategy to promote competitive advantages. Despite the increased academic interest in logistics service providers (LSP), there are few studies in literature that devote special emphasis to synthesize the state of the art on LSP, and the few literature reviews in the area exist only in English. Thus, the objective of this dissertation is to present a systematic review of the literature in Portuguese on logistics service providers, and to compare the results obtained to the systematic reviews available in English. The publications of interest were located by querying the electronics databases Emeraldinsight, ScienceDirect, Scielo (Scientific Electronic Library Online), Google Scholar, and periodicals by CAPES. The frameworks of Marasco (2007) and Maloni and Carter (2006) were used to organize the information of the literature on LSP. The framework of Marasco (2007) includes the context, structure, process and outcomes of the LSP-client relationship. The framework of Maloni and Carter (2006), also used to guide the review provided the basis to establish the variables of analysis of information, namely: 1) definitions of LSP, 2) motivations to outsource logistics, 3) inhibitors, 4) the process of outsourcing of logistics services, 5) selection criteria and / or evaluation of LSPs, 6) performance indicators, 7) outsourcing activities and 8) future research. The results indicate that the models allow to identify and to organize efficiently LSPs on the main issues, as well as the limitations of existing research, offering possibilities for future research. By comparing the results obtained with systematic reviews of the LSPs literature in English, several common aspects are identified, but also different issues characteristic of LSPs in Brazil. This confirms the fact that the logistics outsourcing analysis can vary by region and further studies are needed to continue expanding the geographical scope of the investigation of LSPs.

Lors de la gestion d’un conflit entre un client et une entreprise, le recours à un médiateur, c’est à dire à une tierce personne neutre qui porte un jugement sur la manière dont devrait être réglé le conflit, est une pratique de plus en plus répandue, notamment du fait de l’application de la Directive Européenne 2013/11. A l’aide de six études empiriques, ce travail doctoral positionne la médiation comme une démarche conciliante qui s’inscrit au sein du processus de gestion d’une réclamation client. Les clients qui se tournent vers un médiateur recherchent notamment sa neutralité. La décision émise par le médiateur, selon qu’elle est favorable ou défavorable au client, influence ses intentions de comportement envers l’entreprise (fidélité et bouche à oreille positif). La neutralité perçue du médiateur a un effet modérateur sur cette relation. Enfin, le statut du médiateur - externe ou interne à l’entreprise - modère l'impact de la décision du médiateur sur la fidélité post-médiation du client. Ces résultats encouragent les entreprises à exploiter stratégiquement la médiation afin de reconquérir leurs clients sachant que la médiation est la dernière chance que le client donne à l'entreprise pour résoudre positivement la défaillance du service. / The demand for mediation, in which a neutral third party offers advice for resolving a problem, continues to increase steadily, especially in Europe, where European Directive 2013/11 grants consumers the right to access mediation to resolve disputes with sellers. With a series of six studies, this dissertation offers the first empirical demonstration that recourse to a mediator is a form of customer conciliatory behavior in a service recovery context. Customers with recourse to a mediator look specifically for its neutrality. The mediator’s perceived neutrality then has a moderating effect on the relationship between the service recovery response by the mediator and the customer’s behavioral outcomes (loyalty and positive WOM), which is further mediated by the perceived procedural justice of the mediation process. Finally, the mediation status – external or internal – moderates the effect of the outcome on customer post-mediation loyalty. These findings encourage firms to leverage mediation resources strategically to win back customers, because mediation represents the last chance that the customer gives the firm to positively resolve the service failure.

(in English): The diploma thesis deals with yet unprocessed complex issue of Twitterverse with a focus on community Twitter and third party applications. The thesis is mapping origin and development of Twitter and the related phenomenon Twitterverse using qualitative research methods case study. The work should contribute to a better and more detailed understanding of this issue for the general reader.

[pt] A prática de terceirização das atividades logísticas pelas empresas é bastante comum no cenário atual de mercado, onde as empresas buscam, cada vez mais, novas estratégias de auxílio no gerenciamento de seus negócios, bem como redução de custos, agilidade na solução de seus problemas, aumento do nível de serviço prestado a seus clientes e melhorias no desempenho. Através desta estratégia de terceirização, entram em cena os chamados Prestadores de Serviços Logísticos (PSL). Sendo assim, este estudo tem como objetivo avaliar o nível de utilização de conceitos básicos e de iniciativas e práticas relacionadas ao tema Gerenciamento da Cadeia de Suprimentos (SCM), pelos Prestadores de Serviços Logísticos atuantes no estado do Pará. Para isso, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa survey de cunho quantitativo junto aos PSL, utilizando como instrumento de coleta de dados um questionário dotado de uma escala Likert de quatro pontos, onde, através de suas respostas, os entrevistados foram responsáveis por expressar qual o nível de uso dos conceitos básicos e das iniciativas e práticas, abordadas neste estudo, nos seus processos logísticos. Visto que a pesquisa se enquadra como quantitativa, para o tratamento e avaliação dos dados, foi utilizado um software estatístico e realizada uma análise estatística descritiva. Com os resultados, concluiu-se que, no que se refere ao uso tanto de conceitos básicos quanto de iniciativas e práticas de SCM, os PSL considerados na amostra estudada não possuem um nível de utilização muito bem definido, dada a grande variação observada entre as respostas. / [en] The practice of outsourcing logistics activities by companies is quite common in the current market, where companies seek increasingly new support strategies to manage their business, as well as cost savings, agility in solving their problems, increasing level service and improving performance. Through this outsourcing strategy, Logistics Services Providers (LSP) come into play. Thus, the objective of this study is evaluate the usage level of basic concepts and initiatives and practices related to the theme Supply Chain Management (SCM) by the logistics services providers operating in the state of Pará. For this, a survey research of quantitative nature was developed with these LSP, using a four-point scale Likert questionnaire, where the respondents were responsible for expressing what is the usage level of the basic concepts and of the initiatives and practices, exposed on this study, on their logistics processes. As the research is quantitative, a statistic software were used and a descriptive statistical analysis were made to evaluate the collected data. From the results, it was concluded that the LSP considered in the study sample don’t have a well- defined usage level, due to the large variations observed among the answers.

This work raises the question if the digitalization on the office market today, is the solution to the low utilization during office hours on workplaces in Stockholm by increasing subleases. To answer this question, two interviews, two surveys and a literature review were completed and have been the basis for the obtained results that have gotten compiled and analyzed. The interviews took place with a tenant advisor and a third-party service on office rentals. The surveys were sent to both first tenants and property owners. The results section is based on a presentation of the responses received from each interview and survey. Finally, the conclusion on subleases via third-party service, which is a result of the digitalization on the office market, is that more subleases will increase and therefore utilization during office hours will increase in Stockholm. We believe that the current third-party service has answers to many of the problems that so far have hampered the development of further use of subleases. / Detta arbete ställer frågan om digitala tjänster för andrahandsuthyrning på kontorsmarknaden idag är lösningen på den låga nyttjandegrad, som finns under kontorstid på arbetsplatserna i Stockholm. För att besvara denna fråga har två intervjuer, två enkäter och en litteraturstudie genomförts och legat i grund för de resultat som erhållits och som även har analyserats. Intervjuerna skedde med en hyresgästrådgivare och en förmedlingstjänst för kontorsuthyrning. Enkäterna skickades ut till förstahandshyresgäster och fastighetsägare. Resultatdelen bygger på en presentation av de svar som erhållits från varje intervju och enkät. Slutligen pekar slutsatsen på att andrahandsuthyrning via förmedlingstjänst, som är ett resultat av digitaliseringen på kontorsmarknaden, kommer att leda till fler andrahandsuthyrningar och därför en högre nyttjandegrad under kontorstid i Stockholm. Vi anser att dagens förmedlingstjänst för kontorsuthyrning som exempelvis Workaround, erbjuder lösningar på många av de problem som hittills har hämmat utvecklingen för ytterligare andrahandsuthyrning.