Depuis leur création, les pôles de compétitivité prennent une importance croissante dans les discours et les études des chercheurs. Ils sont apparus comme un terrain d'étude pertinent et même la presse économique ou généraliste se fait quotidiennement l’écho des changements dans la pratique du management au sein de ces organisations.L'objectif de cette thèse est de mettre en exergue un modèle théorique d'intégration de la confiance inter-acteurs au sein des pôles. Afin que nous puissions développer ce modèle, nous avons exploré de nombreuses recherches menées dans le domaine de la confiance, des pôles de compétitivité et les relations inter-organisationnelles. Enfin, certaines questions liées à l'examen empirique de la construction de la confiance sont discutées. L’apport de cette étude repose essentiellement dans son analyse de la notion de confiance dans un contexte multilatéral. / Since their creation, poles of competitiveness are becoming increasingly important in speeches and research literature. They have emerged as a relevant field of study and even a daily echo in business or the general press which report about changes in management practice within these clusters. Currently this structure, which relatively nascent, focuses on the identification and dissemination of best practices among its actors. The aim of this thesis is to outline a theoretical model of integration of inter-actors trust within the clusters. So, in order to develop this model, we explored a wide array ofliterature dealing with trust, clusters and inter-organization relations. Finally, some issues related to the empirical examination of building trust are discussed. The contribution of this paper lies primarily in its study of the concept of trust in a multilateral context.

Dans un contexte mondial caractérisé par une crise systémique très complexe, il est évident qu'aux changements structurels (changements climatiques, pression croissante sur les ressources renouvelables, accroissement démographique), on a associé une crise économique dramatique dont les conséquences ne sont pas encore tout à fait prévisibles en termes d'aggravation de la pauvreté, de contraction des marchés internationaux et du crédit et des perspectives de développement. L'agriculture est ainsi confrontée à des défis décisifs, dont l'issue est incertaine, en particulier dans certaines régions du monde; les modèles de développement qui émergent sont différents et se projettent, d'un côté, dans un secteur agricole «familial» encore très fragile et, de l'autre, dans une agriculture de type «capitaliste» de plus en plus dominante. Cependant, dans un tel contexte de crise, il semble que d'autres nouvelles opportunités peuvent naître, bien que dans le long terme; la coupure qui s'est créée et la rupture des schémas ont révélé la vulnérabilité des systèmes agricoles et agroalimentaires en plaçant en premier plan l'exigence d'innovation et de remise en question des modèles de développement. Dans un contexte de grande incertitude, selon les variations des valeurs et des normes à la base des sociétés, ces dernières doivent se montrer créatives et réinventer les modalités de production, de transformation et de distribution des produits agricoles dans une perspective à long terme qui tienne en compte des territoires et des communautés qui y vivent, tout en focalisant l'attention sur le concept de durabilité. En ce qui concerne le développement durable, les différents systèmes agricoles et agroalimentaires ont déplacé leur intérêt vers une perspective agroécologique, en soutenant les systèmes alimentaires locaux. Ceux-ci évoluent en parallèle, en concurrence ou en complémentarité avec les systèmes de production dominants, et prennent des formes différentes selon qu'ils viennent de pays où l'agriculture est à un taux élevé de consommation de capital, d'intrants chimiques et d'énergie fossile, ou de pays où l'accès à ces ressources est insuffisant et, par conséquent, la productivité du travail est faible. Au niveau mondial, il est essentiel de développer une prise de conscience majeure sur l'existence de ces systèmes innovants, de capitaliser ces expériences, dont certaines à l'état embryonnaire, et de faire ressortir un nouveau paradigme conceptuel de développement dans l'agriculture, qui ne soit pas uniquement du point de vue de la technologie et de l'organisation. Il faut s'interroger sur le degré des connaissances nécessaires pour promouvoir le développement durable, remettre en question la primauté de la connaissance scientifique par rapport aux autres types de connaissances et créer de nouveaux liens entre la recherche, les acteurs économiques, les acteurs de la société civile et les décideurs politiques. C'est dans cette perspective que la recherche agricole joue un rôle de premier plan dans la voie de l'innovation, sachant que l'agriculture ne doit plus exercer un rôle uniquement de production, mais d'interaction complexe avec l'environnement et la société dans son ensemble. Dans un débat scientifique qui s'anime de plus en plus, grâce aussi à l'ouverture imminente de l'Expo 2015 à Milan, on veut souligner le rôle que, dans ce processus d'innovation, chaque acteur peut jouer, ainsi que la caractérisation des facteurs qui déterminent les innovations mêmes, dans un contraste et une comparaison de positions sur les processus innovants réellement nécessaires pour le développement durable. Ce travail de thèse vise à enquêter sur certains aspects de l'innovation dans l'agriculture et à fournir également des points de réflexion en ce qui concerne le rôle que l'agriculture peut jouer dans le cheminement vers un développement réel des communautés rurales, qui vivent dans des territoires où l'agriculture même trouve sa raison d'être. / In a global context characterized by a systemic and multi-faceted crisis, it is clear that the changes that could be defined structural and continuous (climate change, increasing pressure on renewable resources, population growth) are associated with a dramatic economic crisis whose consequences are still not entirely predictable in terms of deepening poverty, contraction of international markets, credit crunch and prospects for development. In this context, agriculture is facing decisive challenges, of uncertain outcome, especially in some regions of the world; the development patterns that emerge are different and are combined, on the one hand, in an agricultural sector "family" still very fragile and, on the other hand, in a capitalist-like farming more and more dominant. However, just by the crisis situation mentioned, it seems that new opportunities can be born, although in the long run; the rift that has arisen and the breaking of the schemes have revealed the vulnerability of agricultural and agro-food systems placing its focus on the need for innovation and on questioning the development models. In a context and in a time of enormous uncertainty, varying the values and norms underlying the society, they must show creative and reinvent the way of producing, processing and distribution of agricultural products in the long period that takes into account the territories and the communities that live there, all focusing attention on the concept of sustainability. In the framework of sustainable development, different farming and agro-food systems moved in an agro-ecological perspective, promoting local food systems. These ones are evolving in parallel, in competition or in complementarity with the dominant production systems, and take different forms depending on whether they themselves emerge in countries where agriculture is at high rate of capital consumption, chemical inputs and fossil energy, or in those countries where the access to such resources is scarce and, consequently, the labor productivity is low. At a global level, it is essential to increase the awareness of the existence of such innovative systems, to capitalize on these experiences, some of which in the embryo, and to bring out a new conceptual paradigm of development in agriculture, all this not only in a technological and organizational perspective. It is necessary to wonder about the state of knowledge necessary to promote sustainable development, calling into question the primacy of scientific knowledge in relation to other types of knowledge and creating new links between research, economic actors, civil society actors and policy makers. Accordingly, it is the agricultural research to play a leading role on the path to innovation, with the understanding that agriculture is no longer called to exercise only a purely productive role, but of complex interactions with the environment and with society as a whole. In a scientific debate that becomes increasingly lively, also thanks to the imminent opening of the event Expo 2015 in Milan, the role is highlighted that, in this process of innovation, each actor can play as well as the characterization of the factors that determine the innovations themselves, in a contrast and comparison of positions on which are the innovative processes really needed and useful for sustainable development. Without any claim of being exhaustive, the present work aims at investigating some aspects of innovation in agriculture and at providing some food for thought about the role that it can play in the journey towards a real development of rural communities , those who live in the territories where agriculture itself finds its “raison d'etre”.

This study investigates the creation and evolution of the virtual campus of the University of Pretoria as a case of educational innovation. The theoretical fields of learning, instructional design, knowledge creation, knowledge management, organisational learning, change management, technology innovation and customer relationship management are drawn upon to contribute to inquiry into educational innovation. These theories were selected because the case consists of process, product and service innovation components that require an interdisciplinary perspective to achieve a holistic analysis. Process innovation explores new processes that have been embedded in the institution to support the virtual campus. Product innovation explores web-supported courses and service innovation explores new web-based services that have been created. The theoretical framework contains important strategies that go beyond the field of technology innovation. Following an extensive literature survey, the researcher sketches the higher education landscape - focusing predominantly on virtual education. This serves the purpose of contextualising the case within a broader setting of higher education and the impact of technology on various aspects of higher education. Theoretical constructs are applied to process, product and service innovation components of the virtual campus to explore how they manifested in the case. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to investigate process, product and service innovation components of the case. The research contributes to knowledge about educational innovation by means of a case study of the virtual campus. In addition, the findings of the practice of the case contribute to various theories and can be used to improve upon current practice. / Dissertation (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Curriculum Studies / Unrestricted

L’objectif fixé à travers ce travail, est de rechercher si l’IE existe dans le secteur des industries agroalimentaires en Algérie, et, le cas échéant, d’en déterminer les pratiques adoptées par l’entreprise, et d’étudier le mécanisme d’intervention de celles-ci dans le processus d’innovation. L’étude exploratoire des pratiques d’intelligence économique et du processus d’innovation a été effectuée dans dix entreprises agroalimentaires algériennes ; elle s’est appuyée sur l’approche qualitative et a été effectuée suivant la stratégie d’étude de cas en combinant l’observation non participante et les entretiens semi-directifs ainsi que la consultation documentaire. L’un des principaux résultats obtenus à travers notre étude est que les principaux acteurs des entreprises observées ne possèdent pas de méthodologie particulière pour l’IE formelle et structurée, mais que tous se fixent des objectifs de surveillance et de collecte d’informations. A de rares exceptions près, ce n’est qu’en situation de crise, que leurs efforts d’IE se concentrent sur le court terme, et que l’information nécessaire à la solution adéquate est recherchée dans l’urgence. En nous basant sur les apports théoriques de la littérature, nous avons défendu la thèse selon laquelle dans les processus de prise de décision et d’innovation de l’entreprise, il serait plus judicieux de prendre en considération aussi bien les pratiques d’IE formelles (systèmes, cellule de veille, …) qu’informelles (réseaux, associations, relations,…) pour une meilleure performance du processus d’innovation. Un modèle qualifié d’ « intelligence innovatrice » a été proposé et qui consiste à innover grâce à un SIE global, recouvrant toutes les pratiques d’IE et rassemblant toutes les sources d’information (formelles et informelles). Une démarche d’anticipation dictée vraisemblablement par l’évolution de l’environnement économique et social du pays suite aux effets du dernier « choc pétrolier » sur le paysage économique, a été toutefois constatée chez quelques entreprises, ce qui semble être un signe susceptible de préfigurer la mise en place, à plus grande échelle, de la pratique d’IE formelle et structurée, et son appropriation effective au sein des entreprises du secteur AA. De plus, des facteurs influençant le choix des pratiques d’IE entre formelles et/ou informelles ont été constatés dans les entreprises étudiées, à savoir : la culture de l’entreprise, la présence à l’international (l’exportation) et le niveau de la concurrence dans la filière. / This work goal is to investigate whether the Business intelligence exists in the agri-food companies sector in Algeria, and, if appropriate, to determine the practices adopted by the company, and to study their mechanism of intervention in the innovation process. The exploratory study of business intelligence practices and innovation process was carried out in ten algerian agribusiness companies; it relied on the qualitative approach and was performed according to the case study strategy by combining non-participant observation and semi-directive interviews and documentary consultation.One of the main results obtained through our study is that the main actors of the companies surveyed do not have a particular methodology for formal and structured Business Intelligence, but that all set goals for monitoring and collecting information. With rare exceptions, it is only in crisis situations, that their Business Intelligence efforts are focused on the short term, and the information required for the proper solution is sought urgently.Based on the theoretical contributions of the literature, we defended the thesis that in the processes of decision making and innovation of the company, it would be wiser to consider both formal Business Intelligence practices (systems, monitoring unit, ...) and informal (networks, associations, relationships, ...) for better performance of the innovation process. A qualified model "innovative intelligence" was proposed, which is to innovate through a comprehensive Business Intelligence system covering all Business intelligence practices and bringing together all sources of information (formal and informal).A proactive approach probably dictated by the changing economic and social environment of the country due to the effects of the last "oil shock" on the economic landscape, however, was observed in some companies, this seems to be a sign capable of foreshadow the establishment, on a larger scale, the practice of formal and structured Business intelligence, and its effective ownership in Agri-Food sector companies. In addition, factors influencing the choice of formal and / or informal Business intelligence practices were found in the companies studied: corporate culture, international presence (export), and level of competition in the sector.

This thesis describes how Innovation Management Consultants (IMCs) can promote changes in R&D/marketing relationships. The research was motivated by the scarce number of studies about the impact of IMCs on organisational relationships in general, and particularly on R&D and marketing relationships. This thesis contributes to knowledge in four strands of literature: technology management, organisational change, management consulting and conflict studies. Firstly, its main contribution is to technology management literature. Empirical evidence indicates that IMCs can modify the relationship between R&D and marketing functions, even though they are not hired explicitly for that purpose. Nonetheless, the main impact on the relationship is perceived at the personal level and it is dependent on the format of the intervention process. Additionally, the changes in the R&D/marketing relationship and its continuity seem to be conditional upon contextual factors such as specific company and consultant characteristics, as well as the nature of the consultant-client relationship. Secondly, this study has added to scholarly knowledge in organisational change by providing empirical evidence that IMCs advocate for the same dynamics used by Organisational Development (OD) consultants. The results highlight the importance of a facilitative-participative approach and organisational learning to generate change. The results suggest that certain OD theories such as sociotechnical systems theories and Lewin’s model can be used to explain the effect of IMCs on intra-organisational relationships. Thirdly, this research also augments knowledge about IMCs in management consulting literature because it provides evidence about the activities conducted by IMCs and their unexpected effects within client organisations. This addresses a gap identified in the literature, since the contributions of this type of Management Consultant (MC) have not been significantly investigated and the focus of previous studies has been on expected results. Finally, this research contributes to the area of conflict studies, particularly to the intersection between R&D/marketing integration and conflict, since it provides certain evidence about some IMCs’ mediation techniques that can be used to diminish conflict between different areas within an organisation. The research followed an inductive approach to understanding the changes that IMCs can promote in R&D/marketing relationships in large firms. The research is based on empirical evidence gathered through twelve case studies, feedback interviews and a small-scale survey. A framework describing the possible changes that IMCs can promote in the R&D/Marketing relationship was then built from grounded, within-case, and cross-case analysis. Lastly, in order to verify the observations obtained during the case studies, as well as the pertinence of the proposed framework, a set of eight feedback interviews with company participants and IMCs were carried out, as well as a small-scale survey. The results of these verification activities indicate that the proposed framework is reasonably complete and its elements are coherent.

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The thesis focuses on the topic of innovation management in the large companies and presents specific analysis of Georg Fischer Piping Systems

On étudie dans cette thèse le transfert de technologie à travers la licence de brevet dans des modèles à la Hotelling, à la Salop puis à deux dimensions. On trouve que le régime optimal dépend des coûts de production , de la taille de l'innovation et du modèle géographique de la localisation des consommateurs. On montre qu'un prix fixe peut être optimal dans un modèle à deux dimensions et qu'une royaltie peut être optimale même pour une innovation intense dans un modèle à la Hotelling quand les coûts sont asymétriques et que la firme innovatrice est inefficiente en terme de coûts. / We study in this thesis technology transfer through patent licensing in a Hotelling mdel, a Salop model and a two dimensionnal model. We find that the optimal licensing regime depends on the costs, on the size of the innovation and the geographic model of consumers locations. We show that a fixed fee can be optimal in a two dimensionnal model and that royalty licensing can be optimal even for a drastic ennovation in a Hotelling model with asymmetric costs and ineficient patent holder.

Diploma thesis devotes itself to the topic competitiveness in the sphere of innovation. First part approaches the topic by description of knowledge-based economy and the perception of the changing approach to human capital. Second part evaluates performance in innovation and identifies markers according to which originated the results. By the method of comparative analysis were evaluated other countries Sweden and Israel in order to identify the weaknesses of the Czech Republic in this area. The final part describes programs that help to develop innovative entrepreneurship and also several own suggestions, which could lead to an improvement of the current situation.

The thesis deals with the management of Czech companies operating in the market areas where frequent innovations are crucial for long term success. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the techniques available for strategic management and the management of innovations. On this theoretical background the research part is based. It contains the results of own survey carried out in the selected Czech companies, presented in the context of strategic management and innovation management theory. The method of structured interview with owners or top management members was chosen for research. The interview deals mostly with the areas of strategic management and the management of innovations. The information derived from the structured interview is combined with the economic results of company. Consequently, the relations between techniques and results are found. The thesis also contains the list of five recommendations that, based on research, can be useful for managers.