Cette thèse examine l'impact de la mondialisation sur l'urbanisation de Beyrouth, capitale pensée a la fois comme métropole au sein du Liban et ville–monde à l’échelle internationale. Longtemps, les discours sur la Ville Globale, ont porté principalement sur les villes du Premier Monde. Une littérature postcoloniale plus récente sur Beyrouth et le monde arabe a élargi le discours de la mondialisation pour inclure le « tiers-monde », les pays en voie de développement et plus particulièrement les villes du Proche-Orient et du bassin méditerranée. Ainsi, cette ouverture a permis de relier l'urbanisation contemporaine avec les diverses formes prises par la modernité. L’objectif de cette recherche est de proposer une lecture de l’urbanisation de Beyrouth depuis la fin du XIXème siècle en mettant en lumière la place centrale prise par les interactions, souvent contradictoires, entre logiques spatiales endogènes et exogènes dans l’explication de ce processus. La méthodologie repose sur quatre approches complémentaires (cartes mentales, entretiens auprès d’experts, analyse critique et historique de la planification urbaine étatique de Beyrouth, géopolitique de l’enseignement supérieur) permettant l’analyse de la restructuration et de la différenciation de la région métropolitaine de Beyrouth et du littoral. La spécificité géographique de Beyrouth contribue à nuancer les tendances à la mondialisation du phénomène urbain dans les espaces dits en voie de développement. Trois étapes de la croissance et de la structuration urbaine se dégage : la centralisation de la période coloniale, la décentralisation liée à la période de l'indépendance et de la guerre civile, la fragmentation enfin lors de la période dite de la « post guerre ». Ce processus inscrit dans le temps long, s’accélère au cours de la dernière période. La « Mondiapolisation » de Beyrouth signifie à la fois l’insertion de Beyrouth dans un modèle monde de l’urbanisation et l’affirmation de valeurs métropolitaines. / This dissertation investigates the impact of globalization on the urbanization of Beirut, a city perceived, on the one hand, as a capital metropolis in the heart of Lebanon and, on the other hand, as an international world-city. The literature on global cities has mainly tackled the cities of the developed world despite the fact that more recent postcolonial literature about Beirut and the Arab world has expanded the discourse of globalization to include the “third-world,” the under-developed countries, and particularly the cities of the Near-East and the mediterranean basin. The objective is to provide an explanation of the urbanization of Beirut, and to try to apply this corpus in order to assess the evolution of Beirut since the end of the nineteenth century. The methodology examines the restructuration and the differentiation of Beirut’s metropolitan area and its coastline as one whole carrying the highest level of urbanization. It is based on four complementary approaches: the mental image of the metropolitan area of Beirut as perceived by its inhabitants, semi-directive interviews to complete the representations and widen the scope of the initial claim, a spatio–chronological reading of the official discourses of urban planning at the different periods of development of contemporary Beirut, and the choice of spatial indicators among which the spatial distribution of universities as a reflection of the geopolitical differentiation of Lebanon and the intersection of endogenous and exogenous factors. In conclusion, the geographical specificity of Beirut reveals the nuances of globalization trends of the urban phenomenon in the so-called under-development spaces. Three stages of growth and urban structure are identified : centralization, corresponding to the colonial period, decentralization, to the period of independence and civil war, and fragmentation, to the period known as "post-war" Beirut. We call this long-term process the "Globapolization" of Beirut.

Organisations with high-performing data and analytics capabilities are more successful than organisations with lower analytics maturity. It is therefore necessary for organisations to assess their analytics capabilities and needs in order to identify and evaluate areas of improvement that need to be addressed. This was the purpose of this case study conducted on a region in a global B2B organisation, which has a centrally established analytics function on corporate level, wanting the use of analytics to be integrated in more of the region’s processes and analytical capabilities and resources being used as efficient as possible.To fulfil the thesis purpose, empirical data was collected through qualitative interviews with employees on corporate level, more quantitative interviews with regional employees and a questionnaire issued to regional employees. This was complemented with a thorough literature study which provided the analytics maturity models used for identifying the current capabilities on a holistic level of the region, as well as analytics setups, Lean Six Sigma and Knowledge Management. Results show a relatively low analytics maturity due to e.g. insufficient support from management, unclear responsibility of analytics, data not being used correctly or requested enough and various issues with competence, tools and sources.This study contributes to analytics research by identifying that analytics maturity models available free of charge only are good for inspiration and not full use when used in a large company. Furthermore, the study shows that complexities arise when having a central analytics function with low analytics maturity while other parts of the company face analytics problems but no indications are given on who and what to proceed on or not. This study therefore results in contributing with a proposition for companies wanting to increase its analytics maturity that this could be facilitated by establishing networks for analytics. Combining literature and empirics show that networks enable investigation of the analytics situation while at the same time enabling increased sharing, collaboration, innovation, coordination and dissemination. By making Lean Six Sigma a central part of the network analytics will be used more and better while at the same time increasing the success-rate of change and improvements projects.

Aujourd’hui encore, notre vie politique est organisée autour de la relation de commandement à obéissance à laquelle nous oblige la souveraineté politique. Mais ce rapport d’obligation est une forme particulière du pouvoir politique, qui émerge au XVIe siècle à travers la pensée de Bodin, dans une conjoncture historique précise. Comment ce concept, renvoyant à l’obéissance absolue et inconditionnée des « francs sujets » à leur Souverain, a-t-il pu être conservé par les sociétés démocratiques modernes? L’indivisibilité et la transcendance de ce pouvoir peuvent-elles exprimer la souveraineté du peuple? C’est une première métamorphose de ce concept qui est requise pour traduire la forme républicaine instituée suite aux deux révolutions américaine et française du XVIIIe siècle. Se pose alors la question de savoir comment conjuguer la nécessaire obéissance aux pouvoirs publics avec la liberté humaine. L’obligation d’obéir à laquelle nous sommes tenus par l’autorité souveraine n’est-elle pas en effet assimilable à une limitation de cette liberté? Et tout pouvoir ne tend-il pas, par nature, à s’hypertrophier? Comment assurer les citoyens de la préservation de leurs droits subjectifs, tout en veillant à leur coexistence en communauté? L’étude la république fédérale américaine permet d’appréhender l’interaction particulière qui existe entre une certaine représentation des fonctions du pouvoir politique, et une dynamique sociale puissante et entreprenante. En divisant la souveraineté, les Américains en contredisent un des traits posés comme essentiels, provoquant ainsi sa deuxième métamorphose. Jusqu’où peut-on alors aller dans la remise en cause des attributs souverains, sans perdre la relation de pouvoir spécifique qu’elle inaugure / Even today, our political life is built on an interaction between command and submission, to which we are bound by political Sovereignty. But it is a particular form of the political power, that raised in the 16th century with Bodin’s intellectual contribution, from a precise historical juncture. How this concept, referring to the absolute and unconditional submission from the « free subjects » to the Sovereign, also pertains to modern democratic societies? Are the indivisibility and transcendence of this power appropriate to express people’s sovereignty too? Identifying a first metamorphosis of this concept is necessary, while assessing its transcription into the republican form of government set up by the two American and French Revolutions in the 18th century. Then it became relevant to question how to combine the necessary obedience to public powers with human liberty. Isn’t the obligation to submit to which we are compelled by a sovereign autority, a limitation of this liberty? Isn’t it in the nature of every power to turn abnormally large and invasive? How to ensure both the preservation of the subjective rights of the citizens and the citizen’s coexistence in a society? The study of the American Federal Republic allows us to describe the particular interaction between a certain representation of the political power’s fonctions, and an efficient enterprising social dynamic. By dividing the sovereignty, the Americans contradict one of its essential presumed features, initiating its second metamorphosis. To what extend, then, can we challenge the attributes of sovereignty, without losing the specific relation of power that its inception inaugurated

The question leading this study is whether or not the contents of Hezekiah‘s storehouses and treasuries (2 Ki 20:13, 2 Chr 32:25-28 and Is 39:2) defy or reflect the reality of the Judaean domestic economy in the late 8th – early 7th century BCE. I have adopted a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, considering the literary, political, economic, religious, and socio-cultural dimensions of Hezekiah‘s reign. The study concludes that revenue from agriculture could not have been Hezekiah‘s only source of income. Local goods and taxes were insufficient in volume and value to account for the extent of Hezekiah‘s wealth. While the religious reforms and cult centralisation introduced by Hezekiah would have generated considerable income, alternative sources must have been available to the king. Tolls, taxes, and customs imposed on the international trade traversing the Levant contributed significantly. Examination of the available archaeological evidence reflects a prosperous economy, one that favoured a powerful minority. / Biblical and Ancient studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeology)

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and explain the origins of centra 1 i sed unitary con st itut i ona l forms adopted at independence, with speci a 1 reference to the pre-independence period of colonial rule and the states of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Since the states of the world are either unitary or federal, an attempt is made to distinguish the unitary constitutional form from federation by contrasting both concepts. The three states under study are identified as centralised and unitary by referring to political, historical, legal, administrative and fiscal criteria. The theoretical and practical origins and explanations for the adoption of unitary constitutional forms in the European and African context are explained. First, the theoretical origins of monism, pluralism, dualism, absolutism and sovereignty and the thoughts of a number of classical theorists are discussed. Next the practical origins, the statements and perceptions by members of African nationalist elites supportive of unitary states in Africa in the colonial and early post-colonial period are referred to, in partial exp 1 anat ion for the adoption of this con st itut i ona 1 form. British constitutional practices and precedents are also discussed. Further, to explain the origins of the centralised unitary state in Africa, the three case studies of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia come under discussion. A four stage conceptual scheme devised by Etzioni and modified for the purpose of this thesis is utilised to analyse and explain the origins of the centralised unitary state in the three case studies of Botswana, Zimbabwe (xii) and Namibia. A variety of factors both historical and contemporary, internal and external to these countries are identified and analysed. These factors include amongst others, early settlement patterns and confiicts, British colonial practices and precedents, the perceptions and ambitions of nationalist movements and elites, relationships with neighbouring states, the climate of opinion, and the requirements of nation-building and political stability. The thesis is concluded by comparing the experiences of the three countries and, setting out several inductive propositions determining under which conditions these states adopted centralised unitary constitutional forms in preference to decentralised ones, federation or partition. Finally, the thesis is concluded by referring in a Postscript to the postindependence constitutional reassessment in the three countries concerned, the constitutional reassessment process in Africa in general, literature references to this process, and the prospects for constitutional reform on the continent. / Political Science / D. Lit. et Phil. (Politics)

Plusieurs études ont révélé des problèmes récurrents au niveau de la performance et de la gestion des projets de reconstruction à la suite des catastrophes dans les pays en voie de développement (PEVD). Ces projets doivent faire face à des conditions de vulnérabilité des habitants, engendrées par des facteurs politiques, économiques, sociaux et culturels. Les divers participants - contraints par un accès limité à l’information - sont confrontés à travailler dans un contexte hostile ayant un niveau d’incertitude élevé. Ce niveau d’incertitude augmente les risques du projet de reconstruction, particulièrement le risque d’insatisfaction des usagers. Ce travail vise à mettre en parallèle l’analyse du système organisationnel adopté pour la conduite d’un projet de reconstruction et celle du niveau de satisfaction des usagers. Il émet l’hypothèse suivante: deux facteurs organisationnels influencent largement le niveau de satisfaction de la part des bénéficiaires d’un projet de reconstruction de logements à la suite d’un désastre en PEVD: (i) le niveau de centralisation de la prise de décisions (jumelée au manque d’information) au sein de la Multi-Organisation Temporaire (MOT); et (ii) la capacité de la structure organisationnelle de la MOT d’impliquer la participation active des usagers au niveau de la planification, de la gestion, du financement et du design du projet. Afin d’atteindre cet objectif, une recherche empirique fut menée pour analyser le cas des inondations ayant eu lieu en 2003 dans une ville dans la région du Maghreb. Le niveau de satisfaction des usagers a été déterminé grâce à des indicateurs de transfert de technologie qui se basent sur l’analyse du « Cadre Logique » - une méthode d’évaluation largement utilisée dans le domaine du développement international. Les résultats de la recherche ne visent pas à identifier une relation de cause à effet entre les deux variables étudiées (la structure organisationnelle et la satisfaction des usagers). Cependant, ils mettent en évidence certains principes du montage et de la gestion des projets qui peuvent être mis en place pour l’amélioration des pratiques de reconstruction. / Construction projects are temporary endeavors with a defined beginning and end, conducted by a temporary and multi-disciplinary team called a Temporary Multi-Organization (TMO). In the hostile environment of post-disaster reconstruction, participants of the TMO must confront high levels of uncertainty which increases project risks. The non-acceptability of project outcomes is one of the most frequent risks reported in literature (UNDRO, 1982; Barenstein, 2008; Dikmen, 2006). Acceptability is related with users’ satisfaction. However, according to the theory of bounded rationality, actors of the TMO - confronted with limited information and resources - cannot achieve an optimal solution. Instead, both project actors and end-users accept a «satisficing» [SIC] solution (Simon, 2004). This study hypothesizes that two organizational factors have an important influence on user satisfaction in post-disaster housing projects: (i) centralized decision making (coupled with lack of information); and (ii) the capacity of the structure of the Temporary Multi-Organization (TMO) to take into account the active participation of users in project planning, management, financing and design. A case study of a post-disaster housing project in the Maghreb region helps us validate this hypothesis. Building up on this hypothesis, indicators of technology transfer (as proposed by the Logical Framework Analysis) serve as a basis to assess users’ satisfaction. The research does not establish a cause-effect relationship between the two variables of the study. However, the analysis of the structure of the TMO and users’ satisfaction highlight several principles, related with the project initiation and management, that can be implemented to improve reconstruction practices in developing countries.

Cette thèse porte sur la gestion des routes du département de la Haute-Garonne de 1790 à 1796. Dans ce département né du nouvel ordre territorial et administratif qui s’impose en France en 1790 et formé d’une partie de deux anciennes provinces hétérogènes, la Guyenne et le Languedoc, l’administration locale se voit confier le rôle de maintenir les infrastructures de transport en bon état. Pour ce faire, elle doit faire face aux nombreuses difficultés qui peuvent empêcher localement l’exécution des travaux routiers. Ses compétences à cet égard dépendant étroitement du degré de centralisation de l’administration centrale des ponts et chaussées, composée du ministre de l’Intérieur et du Corps des Ponts et Chaussées. Au cours de la Révolution française, ce jeu de pouvoir entre Paris et le département subit l’influence des contextes national et local, tels que les crises politiques ou la guerre. Le pouvoir local ne peut prendre les mesures qu’il juge nécessaire pour assurer la bonne gestion de son réseau routier que dans les limites de la politique routière imposée par Paris. / This thesis is a study of the management of roads in the “département” of Haute-Garonne between 1790 and 1796. This “département” had been created as a part of the new territorial and administrative order in France established in 1790, and it was made from parts of two former different provinces, Guyenne and Languedoc. In Haute-Garonne the local administration was entrusted with the role of maintaining the infrastructures for transport. To this end the “département” had to face various difficulties that could impede the execution of road works in the locality. Its powers in this respect depended closely on the degree of centralization of the national administration of roads and bridges, an administration composed of the Minister of the Interior and the “Corps des Ponts et Chaussées”. During the French Revolution this power relationship between Paris and Haute-Garonne was dictated by a combination of national and local contexts, including political crises and war. The local authorities could take measures they deemed necessary to ensure the proper management of their road networks only when these were within the limits set by the road policy decided on by the national authorities in Paris.

Plusieurs études ont révélé des problèmes récurrents au niveau de la performance et de la gestion des projets de reconstruction à la suite des catastrophes dans les pays en voie de développement (PEVD). Ces projets doivent faire face à des conditions de vulnérabilité des habitants, engendrées par des facteurs politiques, économiques, sociaux et culturels. Les divers participants - contraints par un accès limité à l’information - sont confrontés à travailler dans un contexte hostile ayant un niveau d’incertitude élevé. Ce niveau d’incertitude augmente les risques du projet de reconstruction, particulièrement le risque d’insatisfaction des usagers. Ce travail vise à mettre en parallèle l’analyse du système organisationnel adopté pour la conduite d’un projet de reconstruction et celle du niveau de satisfaction des usagers. Il émet l’hypothèse suivante: deux facteurs organisationnels influencent largement le niveau de satisfaction de la part des bénéficiaires d’un projet de reconstruction de logements à la suite d’un désastre en PEVD: (i) le niveau de centralisation de la prise de décisions (jumelée au manque d’information) au sein de la Multi-Organisation Temporaire (MOT); et (ii) la capacité de la structure organisationnelle de la MOT d’impliquer la participation active des usagers au niveau de la planification, de la gestion, du financement et du design du projet. Afin d’atteindre cet objectif, une recherche empirique fut menée pour analyser le cas des inondations ayant eu lieu en 2003 dans une ville dans la région du Maghreb. Le niveau de satisfaction des usagers a été déterminé grâce à des indicateurs de transfert de technologie qui se basent sur l’analyse du « Cadre Logique » - une méthode d’évaluation largement utilisée dans le domaine du développement international. Les résultats de la recherche ne visent pas à identifier une relation de cause à effet entre les deux variables étudiées (la structure organisationnelle et la satisfaction des usagers). Cependant, ils mettent en évidence certains principes du montage et de la gestion des projets qui peuvent être mis en place pour l’amélioration des pratiques de reconstruction. / Construction projects are temporary endeavors with a defined beginning and end, conducted by a temporary and multi-disciplinary team called a Temporary Multi-Organization (TMO). In the hostile environment of post-disaster reconstruction, participants of the TMO must confront high levels of uncertainty which increases project risks. The non-acceptability of project outcomes is one of the most frequent risks reported in literature (UNDRO, 1982; Barenstein, 2008; Dikmen, 2006). Acceptability is related with users’ satisfaction. However, according to the theory of bounded rationality, actors of the TMO - confronted with limited information and resources - cannot achieve an optimal solution. Instead, both project actors and end-users accept a «satisficing» [SIC] solution (Simon, 2004). This study hypothesizes that two organizational factors have an important influence on user satisfaction in post-disaster housing projects: (i) centralized decision making (coupled with lack of information); and (ii) the capacity of the structure of the Temporary Multi-Organization (TMO) to take into account the active participation of users in project planning, management, financing and design. A case study of a post-disaster housing project in the Maghreb region helps us validate this hypothesis. Building up on this hypothesis, indicators of technology transfer (as proposed by the Logical Framework Analysis) serve as a basis to assess users’ satisfaction. The research does not establish a cause-effect relationship between the two variables of the study. However, the analysis of the structure of the TMO and users’ satisfaction highlight several principles, related with the project initiation and management, that can be implemented to improve reconstruction practices in developing countries.

Global growth in mining activities has resulted in stiff competition for talented employees and characterised the mining industry with high turnover rates. The South African mining environment has not been an exception to this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to inform the design of talent retention strategies through determination of turnover intention predictors and exploration of the turnover process experienced by employees. The study hypothesised that job satisfaction and affective organisational commitment mediate the effect of overall justice, centralisation, trust and job challenge on turnover intentions. A cross-sectional survey design with a random sample of trainers and learners from a South African gold mining company was used (n=171 and n=230, respectively). Results indicate that job satisfaction mediates the effect of centralisation on turnover intention for learners. Only job satisfaction directly predicts turnover intention for trainers, and overall justice and trust play a direct role in the prediction of turnover intention for learners. It was also found that job challenge predicts job satisfaction for trainers, whilst job challenge, centralisation and trust predict job satisfaction for learners. Therefore, to retain trainers, the mining company should focus on enhancing those factors that facilitate job challenge perceptions and job satisfaction. In retaining learners, its thrust should be increasing job challenge, decentralisation, overall justice, trust and job satisfaction. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Global growth in mining activities has resulted in stiff competition for talented employees and characterised the mining industry with high turnover rates. The South African mining environment has not been an exception to this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to inform the design of talent retention strategies through determination of turnover intention predictors and exploration of the turnover process experienced by employees. The study hypothesised that job satisfaction and affective organisational commitment mediate the effect of overall justice, centralisation, trust and job challenge on turnover intentions. A cross-sectional survey design with a random sample of trainers and learners from a South African gold mining company was used (n=171 and n=230, respectively). Results indicate that job satisfaction mediates the effect of centralisation on turnover intention for learners. Only job satisfaction directly predicts turnover intention for trainers, and overall justice and trust play a direct role in the prediction of turnover intention for learners. It was also found that job challenge predicts job satisfaction for trainers, whilst job challenge, centralisation and trust predict job satisfaction for learners. Therefore, to retain trainers, the mining company should focus on enhancing those factors that facilitate job challenge perceptions and job satisfaction. In retaining learners, its thrust should be increasing job challenge, decentralisation, overall justice, trust and job satisfaction. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.