Le Conseil et le Bureau du commerce constituent l’instance principale de l’administration royale du commerce au XVIIIe siècle. Bien que le roi n’assiste jamais aux séances hebdomadaires, cette institution, créée en 1700 et dissoute en 1791, a contribué à modeler l’économie française de l’époque. Installé au sommet d’une pyramide institutionnelle, cet organe est étroitement associé à l’élaboration et à l’application du droit économique, exerçant un véritable pouvoir par procuration en matière d’édiction de la norme. Un de ses traits les plus originaux consiste en la présence, très influente, de Députés du commerce. Ces Députés du commerce, au minimum, constituent un tiers-intervenant susceptible de crédibiliser l’institution par rapport aux forces vives de l’économie. Par ailleurs, une intégration institutionnelle forte tend à solidariser presque organiquement les chambres de commerce, les corporations et les manufactures avec l’instance centrale. Contrairement à une vision quelque peu réductrice d’une économie « dirigiste », le Conseil/Bureau du commerce, durant la première moitié du siècle, opère une économie d’une nature profondément conventionnelle. Concrètement, cette institution forme le point de rencontre de toutes les entités intéressées au commerce et le rapport de force s’avère ambigu entre le pouvoir et les opérateurs privés. Durant la seconde moitié du siècle, le Bureau du commerce change radicalement de politique, voire de doctrine, pour mettre en oeuvre un libéralisme économique « premier ». Le langage employé et l’intériorisation de concepts économiques et idéologiques nouveaux montrent le degré de pénétration de ce libéralisme. / The Council and Bureau of commerce formed the major body of the royal administration of commerce in the XVIIIth century. Although the king never attended the weekly assemblies, this institution, created in 1700 and abolished in 1791, contributed to shape the French economy at the time. Placed at the top of an institutional pyramid, this organization is narrowly associated with the elaboration and enforcement of the economic right. One of its most prominent features is the very influential presence of Deputies of commerce. These Deputies, at least, constituted a third party liable to give credit to the institution in relation to the forces of the economy. In addition, a strong institutional integration tended to bring together almost organically the Chambres de commerce, the corporations and the manufactures with the central body. Contrary to a somewhat shortview vision of “dirigisme”, the Council/Bureau of commerce operated a deeply conventional economy throughout the first half of the century. This institution allows for the meeting of all the entities interested in commerce, and shapes the relationship between central power and private operators, which was seemingly ambiguous. During the second half of the century, the Bureau of commerce dramatically switches its politics, in order to build a “first” economic liberalism. The language and the appropriation of new economic and ideological concepts demonstrate the high degree of influence this liberalism enjoys.

M.Comm. / This study aims to provide information on the macroeconomic impact of electronic commerce and its effects on business, consumer and government sectors. Electronic commerce as a new phenomenon has the potential to bring substantial benefits to government, businesses and consumers. Developed countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have had an experience of electronic commerce for the last ten years. Electronic commerce is the catchall phrase for many advances in technology centred on the Internet, and heralds fundamental changes for the world economy. The expansion of the Internet globally has made it an ideal means to conduct commercial transactions. The Internet is being used more and more to advertise and sell goods and service globally. Electronic commerce is an instrument that is handy to globalise trade among countries and nations. It has become highly possible to conduct business transactions with all parts of the world that have access to Internet, without being physically there. The transactions take place technologically. The use of Internet and the World Wide Web is creating a revolution in the manner in which business transactions are conducted. The increase in the number of users is taking place at a rapid pace, especially in the developed economies. It is estimated that there are now more than 150 million users, and the figure increases by more than 50 000 on a daily basis (UNCTAD, 1999:55). More than half of the current user population is located in the United States of America, but the geographical spread is fast diversifying. Even developing countries are now having an access to the Internet. Revenue attributed to electronic commerce is still relatively small though it is projected to grow over the years. Empirical evidence about the use of electronic commerce is largely confined to developed countries, though developing countries are now using it. It shows that in several sectors, which include financial services, tourism, books, music and entertainment industry, the digital revolution is spreading rapidly. This also shows that many aspects of governments' dealings with communities, international project management and consultancy work are increasingly being facilitated by electronic operations. The United States has developed the Global Information Infrastructure, which is seen as a global marketplace, to enable it to reach every comer of the globe on trade. This development is based on the following principles:- • Private sector leadership The private sector is leading the development of electronic commerce and the Internet, though the government assisted with bulk financing. Innovation, expanded services, broader participation, and lower prices will arise in a market-driven arena, not in an environment that operates as a regulated industry. The American government is encouraging industry self-regulation whenever appropriate, and supports all initiatives and efforts of the private sector to develop mechanisms to facilitate the successful operation of the Internet and electronic commerce. • Government to avoid undue restrictions on electronic commerce The government has not intervened when business transactions on goods and services are effected across the Internet. The government is of the view that intervention and unnecessary regulation of commercial activities will distort the development of an electronic marketplace by decreasing supply and raising the cost of goods and services for consumers globally. The United States government has further undertaken to refrain from imposing new regulations, bureaucratic procedures, or taxes and tariffs on commercial activities that take place via the Internet. • Minimum government intervention when necessary The government will intervene to support and enforce a predictable, consistent and simple legal environment for commerce. In some areas it will be necessary for government to play a minimal role where consumers have to be protected.

Depuis 1965, la communauté européenne a adopté une réglementation étendue dans le domaine des médicaments afin d'assurer leur libre circulation tout en garantissant que tous les médicaments fabriqués ou commercialisés dans les Etats membres soient sûrs. L'une des distinctions les plus importantes, entre les médicaments et les autres biens de consommation, est que l'usage des médicaments a des implications graves en termes de santé et de sécurité, c'est pourquoi une autorisation de mise sur le marché (AMM) est essentielle. Il apparaîtra nécessaire de distinguer les médicaments, des produits de santé, et des « produits frontières » tels que les cosmétiques, les compléments alimentaires ou les produits à base de plante médicinale notamment, tous soumis à des règles particulières. La recherche se propose d'étudier comment la qualité et la sécurité des médicaments et des produits liés à la santé (entendus au sens large) est garantie dans l'Union européenne, de la fabrication à la mise sur le marché. Dans cette optique, il faudra envisager l'encadrement communautaire existant en amont de la commercialisation, en fonction des produits concernés (le cas échéant, essais cliniques, bilan bénéfice/risque, AMM…) et en aval (mécanismes de vigilance sanitaire plus ou moins étendus). Si une harmonisation communautaire existe déjà, dans beaucoup de domaines, la question de son caractère suffisant se pose (comme en attestent les récentes propositions du paquet pharmaceutique de décembre 2008) que ce soit au regard de la pharmacovigilance et de la contrefaçon, phénomène international que des mesures purement étatiques ne sauraient suffire à juguler, ou de la nécessité d'appréhender des domaines émergents (ex : la vente en ligne de médicaments ou la commercialisation de tests ayant des implications médicales tels les tests génétiques en accès libre…). Cette étude qui part d'un état des lieux soulignera les enjeux mais aussi les perspectives offertes par la nouvelle base juridique introduite par le Traité Lisbonne (art 168§4 point c du TFUE) qui offre à l'union une compétence partagée avec les Etats dans le domaine de la fixation de normes élevées de qualité et de sécurité des médicaments et des dispositifs à usage médical. / Le résumé en anglais n'a pas été communiqué par l'auteur.

Supply chains (SCs) are an important part of today’s world. Many businesses operate in the global marketplace where individual companies are no longer treated as separate entities, but as a vital part of an end-to-end supply chain (E2E-SC) system. Key challenges and issues in managing E2E-SCs are duly attributed to their extended, complex and systemic nature. In the era of uncertainty, risks and market volatility, decision makers are searching for modelling techniques to be able to understand, to control, design or evaluate their E2E-SC. This research aims to support academics and decision makers by defining a generic simulation modelling approach that can be used for any E2E-SC. This study considers the challenges and issues associated with modelling complex E2E-SC systems using simulation and underlines the key requirements for modelling an E2E-SC. The systematic literature review approach is applied to provide a twofold theoretical contribution [a] an insightful review of various contributions to knowledge surrounding simulation methods within the literature on end-to-end supply chains and [b] to propose a conceptual framework that suggests generic elements required for modelling such systems using simulation. The research adopts a simulation methodology and develops a generic guide to an E2E-SC simulation model creation process. It is a mindful inquiry into the implications relative to a simulation model development process in presence of generic elements from the proposed conceptual framework. The conceptual framework is validated with industry experts and insightful remarks are drawn. In conclusion, it is acknowledged that modelling an E2E-SC system using simulation is a challenge, and this area is not fully exploited by the business. A guide to an E2E-SC simulation model development is a theoretical and practical contribution of this research, immensely sought by businesses, which are continuously tackling day to day issues and challenges, hence often lacking resources and time to focus on modelling. The conceptual framework captures generic elements of the E2E-SC system; however, it also highlights multiple challenges around simulation model development process such as technical constraints and almost impracticability of a true reflection of an E2E-SC system simulation model. The significant contribution of this thesis is the evaluation of the proposed generic guide to E2E-SC simulate model development, which provides the architecture for better strategic supply and demand balancing as new products, price fluctuations, and options for physical network changes can be dynamically incorporated into the model. The research provides an insightful journey through key challenges and issues when modelling E2E-SC systems and contributes with key recommendations for mindful inquiries into E2E-SC simulation models.

Tang, Jian. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-148). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

In marketing, value is linked to products and services, and studied in known contexts from the perspective of customers and companies. This thesis draws attention to value creation through new fleeting offerings that are yet to be studied in marketing. These objects are presented here as 'branded installations'. These installations are unforeseen and offer experiences to people if they choose to interact with them. This study urges for the recognition of fleeting, interactive experiences offered to people and the impact they have on value for brands. This study, therefore, examines the value generated by branded installations. It offers an understanding of new experiences that lack context for consumers. Qualitative analysis establishes the need for curiosity in brand value creation. This thesis benefits from the theories of conceptual art and examines consumer experiences in unexplored contexts. The experiences led by branded installations are presented as highly-individualised escape: as ' secret' escape, 'accidental' escape from marketing, and opportunities of play and escape offered by branded installations. The marketers' perspective along with consumers' response have together led this thesis to present 'Unrequited Value' for brands as their attempts to shine through the clutter of marketing largely fails as consumers personalise their escape.

This thesis aims for understanding how the ‘private-collective’ model of innovation works in permissive open source software. This model encourages the private investments in the collective software as well as the sharing of those investments with the collective community. By following this model in permissive open source software, this thesis suggested that private actors would experience a collective action problem referred to as a ‘business dilemma’. This dilemma is the difficult situation experienced by private actors who would be reaping rewards by sharing their private investments but also losing their competitive advantage because of free riders. Theoretically, private actors would be discouraged from sharing their private investments with the collective due to the business dilemma. However, in some real cases, we do not observe this constraint; private actors are not trapped by the business dilemma. Instead, they end up innovating and contributing to permissive open source software. As a result, this thesis would investigate and answer the research questions: ‘How can the private actors invest and share in permissive open source software without experiencing a business dilemma?’ and ‘Why private actors choose to invest and share rather than to free ride in permissive open source software?’ Ostrom’s theory of collective action is used as a lens for investigating the patterns of the private contributions and answering the research questions consequently. This theory suggests that people, even with the absence of formal regulations, can talk and share their local knowledge and experiences in order to collectively arrange the pattern of their actions and to extract themselves from collective action problems accordingly. OpenNebula open source software was the case study analysed. Findings are based upon an in-depth qualitative analysis of a substantial dataset involving 7,017 emails, 3,482 development requests, 4 technical OpenNebula official documentations and thousands of source code commits. Findings revealed that private actors are voluntary entering in an ‘active communications’ with other participants. Findings proposed that an ‘active communications’ act as a prerequisite for the active private contributions done by private actors. Those private contributions are locked within the collective software in the form of ‘collective complementarities’ through a ‘transformation process’. Several evidences proposed that this process worked to align the private interests of private actors with the collective interests of the software. Moreover, findings revealed that a set of ‘rules’ are emerged by the private actors and other participants in order to structure the ‘active communications’ and the ‘transformation process’. Several evidences proposed that these ‘rules’ worked to support the alignment between the private and the collective interests. Accordingly, it is proposed that the alignment between the private and the collective interests (which is done through the ‘active communications’, ‘transformation process’ and is supported through a set of ‘rules) encourages private actors to share and to link their private software with the collective. Without sharing, their private software would not be part of the ‘collective’ complementarities’ that are used in the different industries. This thesis makes novel contributions to the literature of open source. In particular, it extends the ‘private-collective’ model of innovation by introducing the ‘collective complementarities’ as a theoretical concept for locking the private benefit alongside with the collective one. It extends the open source literature by providing a better understanding of the collective software as a type of ‘commons’ that is exposed to private appropriation. In this way, it provides a set of arrangements that can bring the best of open source software that are sponsored by private actors. This thesis also encourages firms to: (1) share an ongoing control over the development of the software with the vibrant community members in order to develop software that can be used across industries and (2) harness information technology practices in their organizations to better serve the private and the collective interests.

The aims of the thesis are to investigate tourism led non-oil growth (TLNOG), for Libya, and to identify the factors that will help to increase this growth through creating and implementing a Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS). These are three research questions: (1) Is there any relationship between tourism expenditure and non-oil GDP in Libya? (2) Is there any causality between these two variables? (3) How to resolve and recover the particular case of Libyan tourism growth through the BOS? Firstly, the research estimated the potential of tourism by using the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) co-integration model proposed by Turner (2006) to ascertain the long-run relationship between tourism expenditure and non-oil growth. Then, semi-structures interview questions based on the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Creative grid (ERRC) (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005b) were dismissed to five kinds of stakeholders (consultants, public promoters, hoteliers, tour operators and tour guides). This study indicates that the long-run relationship is verified between the variables and there is one long run causality. The findings show the BOS through: (a) value innovation by offering special services and packages in hotels (e.g. planning healthy food for special events); (b) technology innovation linked to museums considering people with special needs; (c) cost-off by reducing the prices of the tourist restaurant and internal flights; (d) new segment market by creating the North and South Mediterranean tourism. Finally, the BOS as a recovery strategy by adopting tourism culture and choosing the desert as the main theme for Libyan tourism. The study concludes that TLNOG is not verified, and the growth in the Libyan tourism market could be achieved through the application of thoughtful and appropriate Blue Ocean Strategy.

The aim of this thesis is to explore how the productization of services is organised as a way of facilitating collaboration and arranging innovation. To achieve this the study is situated within the Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing discipline and draws on the theoretical perspectives of Market Studies. The central theoretical focus of the thesis unfolds against three distinct but interrelated research questions: How is productization mobilised and exchanged by market actors? What effect does marketization have on market shaping practices? How does a firm’s business model facilitate its ability to organise and capture value? The case firm selected as the context of enquiry was a large Scottish public utility firm that delivered two key utility services to consumers and operates within a unique and complex regulatory framework. Adopting a pragmatic research philosophy based on abductive reasoning, a multi-method qualitative study was undertaken, and empirical data collected using a single case study approach. The study theoretically contributes to Marketing Studies by unpacking the performativity of the marketing object, which is found to be purposefully, consistently and temporarily destabilised and re-stabilised by actors, as they undertake agentic calculations during the productization processes. Further, the findings advance business model theory by illustrating the plurality of co-existing business models within a single firm, which dynamically span boundaries. The findings show that co-existing business models were wrapped in a collaborative spatio-temporal nature, and that this is framed through the six-year regulatory investment periods enforced upon the large public utility firm by regulators. The findings further contribute that the use of market devices are fundamental in the ability to shape market practice, demonstrated as case actors struggle to singularize the device due to lack of sound calculative abilities, resulting in attempts of qualification, which adds to the theoretical view that market devices need to be refined and calibrated. The main contribution of the thesis to practice demonstrates that organisations seeking to productize should fundamentally consider the context of the market, and industry that they exchange within. This thesis demonstrates that adopting a productized service offering will augment the knowledge and expertise required by the business to deliver value to its consumers and require restabilising of market practices.

Over the past three decades, the concept of social enterprise has gained prominence as an academic field, as researchers and academics attempt to understand its nature and character. This thesis focuses on the conceptualisation and development of social enterprise in Africa. Specifically, this investigation seeks to explore the reciprocal interaction between social enterprises and their local environment in rural regions of Copperbelt Province in Zambia. This comes at a time when research into potential of social enterprise to ameliorate deprivation is emerging in Africa, some parts of which face acute socio-economic challenges. Moreover, prior research on social enterprise development has focused on developed countries. While such scholarship offers valuable insights, the institutional arrangements in developed countries may be different to those of developing countries. Further literature portrays social enterprise as focusing on either influence of agents or context on development of social enterprise with spatial context portraying less information. Therefore, the aim of the study is to conceptualise social enterprise and explore the reciprocal interaction between social enterprises and their local environment in rural regions of Copperbelt Province in Zambia. To achieve this aim, the study utilised a qualitative approach to collecting data, involving: semi-structured interviews of organisations described as social enterprises. Scrutiny of document data analysis and participant observations triangulated and complemented semi-structured interview data. The study employed components of Giddens’s (1984) structuration theory to provide more insight into the agential and the structural perspective of social enterprise. Major findings show different types of organisations in this study, and cooperatives being most practiced. As social enterprise is understudied, most respondents referred to their organisations as ‘community enterprises’ and are heavily reliant on their trading revenue and membership subscription for sustenance. This thesis underlines the importance of spatial context for social entrepreneurial resource practices and multiple value creating. Furthermore, the findings revealed some form of co-evolution of social enterprise like organisations with their local environment. The study makes theoretical, empirical, and contextual contributions to knowledge and has social, economic, practice, and policy implications.