Ce travail doctoral s’intéresse aux effets du système RH performant d’un sous-traitant sur la performance de l’échange avec le donneur d’ordre. Les théories des ressources et de l’échange social sont mobilisées conjointement afin d’étudier la combinaison complexe entre le système RH performant du sous-traitant, la qualité de la relation entre donneur d’ordre et sous-traitant et la performance de leur échange. Pour tester ce modèle, une étude quantitative multi-sources a été réalisée auprès de cinq grands donneurs d’ordre des secteurs aéronautique et spatial et de leurs principaux sous-traitants. Les résultats issus des analyses de modération montrent que le système RH performant améliore la performance de la relation uniquement lorsque certains aspects de la qualité de la relation avec le donneur d’ordre sont défavorables. En particulier, nos résultats montrent que l’effet du système RH performant est significatif dans trois situations : une justice inter-organisationnelle faible, un pouvoir du donneur d’ordre élevé et une dépendance conjointe faible. Les résultats de cette étude et ses limites sont discutées et des implications managériales à l’intention des donneurs d’ordre et des sous-traitants sont proposées. / This doctoral work focuses on the effects of a high performance work system of a supplier on the exchange performance with the buyer. Drawing on resources and social exchange theories, we study the complex combination of a supplier’s high performance work system, buyer-supplier relationship quality and their exchange performance. To test this model, a quantitative multi-source study was conducted with five major buyers in the aeronautical and spatial industry and their main suppliers. Results from interaction analysis indicate that a high performance work system improves relationship performance only when some aspects of the relationship with the buyer are negative. In particular, our results show that the effect of a high performance work system is significant in three situations: low interorganizational justice, high buyer power and low interdependence. These findings and their limitations are discussed and managerial implications for buyers and suppliers are proposed.

This study proposes criteria to diagnose, to analyse and to evaluate the extent of cooperation and collaboration between supply chain members within extensive inter-firm relationships in supply chains. A case study context examines cooperative and collaborative relationships between shipping companies and shippers as suppliers, manufacturers, distributers, retailers, exporters and importers. The components of cooperation and collaboration are analysed through literature reviews, interviews with industrial experts, content analysis, two-rounds of Q-sorting, and pilot testing. Cooperation is a subset of collaboration comprised of transparency, fairness, and mutuality, and cooperation and “relational strength” such as trust and sustainability constitute collaboration. A questionnaire survey generated 167 responses from shipping companies in South Korea. Exploratory factor analysis underpinned cooperative and collaborative spirit indices (CCSIs) that varied within the shipping industry, types of shipping registered, and vessel types. Confirmatory factor analysis supported good model fit, convergent and discriminant validity, and unidimensionality. A “target coefficient” identified second order factors and path analysis showed that fairness, mutuality and cooperation can foster trust, and mutual trust can cultivate sustainability although transparency does not necessarily lead to trust. CCSIs indicated modest cooperation and collaboration in the shipping industry and MANOVA revealed differences according to vessel types and contract periods. This research clarifies theories of cooperation. Enhanced CCSIs between shippers and shipping companies imply that shippers should extend two-way communication, mutuality, distributive fairness and sustainability with shipping companies. Maintaining relationships brings long run benefits. Further, shipping companies should continuously strive to gain trust from shippers and government should organise consultative groups, develop and disseminate exemplary cases and foster institutions to promote collaboration. The constructs and items deployed herein are generic, implying that the research model and CCSIs methods will be widely applicable.

This research investigates the dynamic interplay of contractual and relational governance mechanisms in long-term supply arrangements. The thesis contributes to an emerging debate that examines the combination of contractual and relational governance in inter-organisational exchanges. Contractual and relational governance mechanisms have been positioned as precluding mechanisms, which may result in destructive effects if combined for governing inter-organisational relationships. Previous research studies have increasingly acknowledged that the use of contractual mechanisms does not exclude the use of relational mechanisms and vice-versa. However, the recent literature offers limited insights into the dynamic interaction of both inter-organisational governance mechanisms and their impact on overall performance. The analysis in this research utilises a conceptual framework and a number of theoretical lenses through which the dynamic interplay of contractual and relational governance mechanisms is explained. Based on empirical case analysis of six public-private supply arrangements across three sectors: healthcare, waste management and emergency services, the research explores the dynamic interplay of both governance mechanisms and their impact on overall performance. Retrospective case study data was collected deploying semi-structured interviews and the critical incident technique was used to investigate the governance interplay over time. The contribution to knowledge is a conceptual framework that refines contractual and relational governance components in supply relationships over time. The findings indicate the importance of the interplay between inter-personal and inter-organisational trust in combination with complex contracts and intermediate contractual agreements. From this the conclusion is drawn that organisations entering into long-term supply relationships need to deploy both contractual and relational governance mechanisms in combination in order to achieve better overall performance.

Postpartum weight retention is commonly considered an important precursor to long-term weight gain, with existing research suggesting that failure to lose weight in postpartum has significant future health implications. While postpartum has been identified as a possible ‘window of opportunity’ for women to make health behaviour change and manage their weight, it remains unclear how mothers, and in particular ‘large’ (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) mothers, experience health and engage with health-related behaviours at this particular point in the life course. Existing research has done little to enhance our understandings of the lived, embodied and practical realities of caring for an infant and, crucially, how this impacts health and weight management during the postpartum period. In addition, qualitative research focusing on postpartum has largely ignored the temporal dimensions of this period and, instead, has tended to focus attentions on a single ‘snapshot’ in time. To address these gaps in the literature, this study employed longitudinal qualitative methodology to explore 15 ‘large’ (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) women’s lived experience of health and weight management over the first six months following childbirth. Participants were recruited from a specialist antenatal metabolic clinic based in Edinburgh, Scotland. When possible, three in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with each participant: the first at six weeks postpartum, the second at three months and, the third at six months postpartum. Both six weeks and six months have consistently been identified in the literature as important markers for postpartum women. Hence, it was hoped that by interviewing at these and an intervening time point (i.e. three months) it would be possible to capture and understand processes of change with regards to weight management in the postpartum period. The analysis revealed that accounts of health and weight were far from straightforward and seemed to be heavily influenced by the wider social context, which routinely pathologises, demonises and stigmatises ‘fatness’. Challenging contemporary discourses of the ‘obesity epidemic’ which frame the large body as a direct consequence of individual lifestyle, participants principally drew upon lay notions of inheritance and implicated a genetic predisposition to resist individual responsibility for weight and body size. The analysis suggests that concerns for health were largely predicated on subjective experiences and, in the absence of tangible and embodied experiences of ill-health, participants expressed little if any impetus to engage in weight management for the purpose of improving their health. In short, the idea that their weight was an indicator of poor health, or future health risk, was not a view shared by participants. Instead, they expressed more complex understandings of their weight, and their responsibilities to engage in health changing behaviour. Despite articulating often strong desires to engage in weight management ‘for the baby’, the longitudinal focus revealed a disjuncture between these intentions and the reality of those engagements. Influential in this discordance was the transition from an intensely medicalised and closely monitored pregnancy, to a period of minimal or no follow up in postpartum. The lack of ‘surveillance’ appeared to have a notable impact on participants’ engagements with health-related behaviours once at home and going about the day-to-day tasks of caring for their infant. Dominant discourses around ‘good’ mothering also made it difficult for participants to prioritise their own needs (such as weight management) ahead of those of their children and other family members. When participants reflected on their experiences of mothering they frequently drew upon understandings of themselves as relational beings and, at times, positioned themselves as phenomenologically inseparable from their baby. This relationality was often experienced as a diminishing of individual autonomy, as the body of the mother and the baby became inter-embodied and bounded. Consequently, my analysis serves to problematise the individualised expectation surrounding a mother’s ability to act autonomously and engage in health-related behaviours in postpartum. These findings also call for a stronger appreciation to be developed of the complexities surrounding engagements with health-related behaviours at this particular point in the life course. In particular this research demonstrates the importance and utility of adopting a more embodied approach, which in turn has some notable implications for public health policy and practice.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-06-01T18:57:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Gabriel Ferreira da Silva_.pdf: 2303204 bytes, checksum: dc2ab42c234ebe1473e65be76c2733ab (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-01T18:57:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gabriel Ferreira da Silva_.pdf: 2303204 bytes, checksum: dc2ab42c234ebe1473e65be76c2733ab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-07 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este trabalho tem por objetivo investigar os fundamentos da Ontologia desenvolvida pelo filósofo dinamarquês Søren A. Kierkegaard, expressa sobretudo nas obras assinadas pelo pseudônimo Johannes Climacus. Tal Ontologia fundamenta-se na radicalização do sentido de Ser qua Atualidade – expresso na noção de Existência – e na consequente distinção para com os outros sentidos de Ser. A partir daí, Kierkegaard desenvolve as demais notas constitutivas do existente enquanto Ser atual consignando seu estrato de intermediariedade e incompletude na expressão latina Inter-Esse, objeto de sua ciência ou saber existencial (Existentiel-Videnskab). Posteriormente, o trabalho mostra os desenvolvimentos da Ontologia kierkegaardiana a partir das relações entre Ser e Pensar, através da análise dos conceitos de Sistema e Lógica e, por fim, explicita as conexões entre a Ontologia de Kierkegaard e as dimensões epistemológicas, éticas e religiosas de sua obra.

Att arbeta i projekt är en allt vanligare arbetsform som tillskrivs vara mer effektiv än den traditionella. Trots detta har projektorganisationer svårt att dra lärdomar av tidigare misstag, därför riskeras de att återupprepas i andra projekt. Det finns påtagliga brister i inhämtningen av kunskap från tidigare projekt, men också i lagrandet av dessa erfarenheter. Utvärdering är ett verktyg som syftar till att reflektera och samla in erfarenheter och kunskaper som genererats i ett projekt. Det är också en förutsättning för att de ska kunna vidareförmedlas. Syftet med studien är därför att ta reda på hur en projektorganisation använder sig av utvärdering för lärande mellan projekt. För att genomföra detta kontaktades en multinationell projektorganisation som hädanefter kallas CS. Vi genomförde en fallstudie där både intervjuer med projektledare och utvärderingsmaterial inhämtades. Det empiriska materialet analyserades och jämfördes med den teoretiska referensramen vilket resulterade i två modeller. Den första modellen beskriver det inter-projektuella lärandet som ligger till grund för kunskapsutbytet mellan projekt. Den andra modellen visar mer ingående utvärderingens kritiska punkter från ett projekt till ett annat. Studien stärker att utvärdering och lärande mellan projekt är ett eftersatt område i projektorganisationer. De uppfattas ofta som tråkiga, ostrukturerade och som att de saknar mottagare. Även andra kritiska punkter i processen som är vitala för att kunskap ska spridas mellan projekt har uppmärksammats. De är att ledningen stöttar genomförandet och inhämtandet av tidigare utvärderingsmaterial, att databasen är användarvänlig och att nätverk aktivt används. En reflekterande utvärdering bidrar till utökad individuell kunskap, men även utförligare dokument som kan lagras i organisationen. Detta är något som långsiktigt leder till kunskapsutveckling för organisationer. Studien visar också att kunskapsspridningen mellan parallellt pågående projekt varken prioriteras i forskning eller inom organisationer. Det finns däremot stor utvecklingspotential inom detta område. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

This study reports a novel and simple technique for successfully coating multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on to the surface of carbon fibre (CF) fabric for the production of multi-scale CF-epoxy composites. Initially, epoxy composites with multi-scale reinforcement were produced by resin infusion (RI) using woven CF fabric coated with a dispersion of 1 wt. % MWCNTs in an epoxy binder of low molar mass. The effects of this reinforcement on the CF-epoxy interface with MWCNTs was studied in mode I and mode II interlaminar fracture toughness (ILFT) using double-cantilever beam (DCB) and 4 point end-notch flexure (4ENF) tests, respectively. Relative to an equivalent composite reinforced with non-coated CF reinforcement, the binder/MWCNTs coating increased significantly the ILFT of the CF-epoxy composite; in mode I by 105% and in mode II by 50%. This increase in ILFT was attributed to two main effects: Firstly, the binder alone (without MWCNTs), which has a much lower glass transition temperature (Tg) than that the matrix (45 vs. 140 °C), hindered crack propagation and increased the ILFT of the epoxy matrix by 25% for mode I and 15% for mode II; Secondly, the energy absorbing mechanisms of MWCNTs during fracture particularly pull-out and crack bridging. However the Tg of the matrix epoxy of the multi-scale composites was reduced to 118 °C compared to 140 °C, for the unmodified composite, due to phase mixing with the low Tg binder. For RI processing, the CF volume fraction of the composites prepared using coated CF was ≈50% compare to at ≈55% for the composite with non-coated CF. Curing agents were added to the binder, which not only increased the Tg from ≈50 °C to ≈100 °C, but also increased the Tg of the matrix epoxy of the multi-scale composites to 154 °C. Relative to an equivalent composite reinforced with non-coated CF reinforcement, the curable-binder/MWCNTs coating increased the ILFT of the CF-epoxy composite; in mode I by 120% and in mode II by 90%. A hybrid RI-hot press (HP) process was used to prepare CF-epoxy composites from coated fabrics with CF volume fractions of ≈55%. The damping curves for the HP-composites consisted of a β-peak, due to the formation of a third mixed phase, in addition to a γ-peak (assigned to the Tg of the binder) and an α-peak (assigned to the Tg of matrix epoxy). The β-peak, and the uniformly distributed nodular particles observed on the fracture surface of the matrix, by SEM, for HP-composites, are indicative of the formation of mixed-phase particles due to reaction induced phase separation (RIPS). Relative to an equivalent RI-composite, the curable-binder/MWCNTs treatment increased the ILFT of the CF-epoxy multi-scale composite; in mode I by 134% and in mode II by 15% for HP-composites. Impact test results showed that HP-composites absorbed more energy, due to CF fracture, compared to equivalent RI composites, which showed larger delamination areas after 5 J and 10 J impact. The out-of-plane electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of the HP-composite with CF coated with curable-binder/MWCNTs was increased by ≈38% and ≈50%, respectively, compared to the composite with non-coated CF, indicating formation of MWCNTs networks in the matrix rich areas of the multi-scale composite.

Scholarly interest in the informal economy has burgeoned in recent years, in anticipation of expanding our knowledge beyond the easily observable organizational life that takes place within the formal economic system. In line with this research endeavour, the present work represents a focused study of what I have labelled 'disguised relationships'. These ties result in repeated transactions between informal economy enterprises, which fail to comply with certain elements of the laws and regulations applying to their operations, and formal firms, which operate within the state-sanctioned formal economy. Drawing on an abductive reasoning process and grounded theory approach, I conduct a case study that captures the interactions between two leading cosmetics firms (i.e. formal firms) and ten daigou enterprises (i.e. informal enterprises) between 2013 and 2017. The examination of multiple data sources (i.e. interviews, news articles and social media observations) suggests that the organizational landscape under study differs considerably from the one in which formal firms are portrayed as rational choosers of best-performing partners or exploiters of subordinate actors within the informal economy. Rather, disguised relationships emerge in a unilateral and disguised fashion following the lead of informal enterprises, and formal firms unintentionally engage in the unexpected ties. Furthermore, disguised relationships create the image of dynamism replete with, metaphorically speaking, give-take, push-pull and chase-evade. More specifically, the emergent model illustrates the interactive practices through four mechanisms: (a) informal enterprises gaining social acceptability from certain society groups and acquiring the necessary resources from the members of identity-based groups; (b) drawing on this momentum, informal enterprises forming unilateral ties with formal firms in a disguised manner; (c) formal firms counteracting the unexpected ties, with temporary compromising on the counteracting efforts; and (d) informal enterprises avoiding the combatting efforts of formal firms through socially learnt tactics and leveraging network brokers (i.e. actors sharing the same ethnic/cultural backgrounds with informal enterprises while at the same time working for formal firms). This thesis makes contributions to the literature on both interorganizational relationships and the informal economy by overcoming the perennial problem of 'dualism' that is prevalent in the extant work. First, while the subject-object dualism bestows upon formal firms a heroic status such that they are conceptualized as rational actors forming interorganizational relationships, always on the basis of plans and goals, the current work argues that formal firms may participate in unexpected, yet lasting, ties, which requires ongoing situational responsiveness. Second, the structure-agency dualism projects the static image in which formal firms deliberately establish exploitative ties with structurally isolated informal enterprises, whereas the present study suggests that informal enterprises may exercise agency to proactively establish or dissolve connections with formal firms and to strengthen or weaken the relationships at their discretion. As such, dynamism figures prominently in the interorganizational relationships between formal firms and informal enterprises.

Inter-agency working has been promoted as a way forward to improve public services, including children's services. However, the terminology is problematic because it often overlaps with other terminologies, such as partnership or collaboration. As a consequence, when describing working arrangements between people and organisations, a 'terminological quagmire' results (Leathard, 1994, p5), with 'definitional chaos' (Ling, 2000, p83). This definitional chaos is replicated in the on-going challenges found by research, on inter-agency working. While much literature has focussed on these challenges and solutions, little attention has been given to the processes that make up inter-agency working. My research explored inter-agency working processes at the frontline of children's services in Scotland. It examined formal mechanisms of working together, such as meetings and referral forms, which organised professionals' work and their relationships with one another. I used institutional ethnography to investigate inter-agency working processes. The research was conducted in one local authority in Scotland over a period of eight months and within the framework of Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC), which is the country's national policy approach for children. One component of GIRFEC is the Named Person. It is a provision that would provide every child in Scotland a professional (for most children the professional is going to be their health visitor or head teacher) to help safeguard their wellbeing by means of offering advice, support and referral to other services. This service will make teachers at promoted posts responsible for coordinating support for their pupils and will change mechanisms of inter-agency working. The tenets of institutional ethnography allowed me to observe and trace the ways in which professionals worked together. The research found that when professionals worked together, they shared information and that sharing of information was complicated by the burgeoning use of technology. The working processes involved revealed the power relations between people and between people and organisations: specifically, between teachers and the Children and Families team members of the council, as the latter was responsible for maintaining the formal inter-agency working mechanisms of GIRFEC. The thesis highlights that inter-agency meetings, as formalised ways of working together, can boost professionals' confidence as they wrestle with uncertainty about their actions as professionals and how best to address children and young people's needs. This thesis also shows how policy changes changed the ways in which professionals work together. The Named Person provision of GIRFEC has ignited public debates in Scotland. This thesis is contributing to the debates by providing evidence on how this new role has changed the relationships between the teachers and other professionals. This is pertinent as the Scottish Government is currently redesigning the Named Person policy.

Cette thèse convoque dans un premier temps la notion d’intericonicité afin de pouvoir, ensuite, analyser avec précision les créations de l’Équipe et l’évolution du recours à différentes opérations au fil des années. Il s’agit de définir des concepts tels que la “parodie”, le “travestissement”, “l’allusion”, la “citation”, la « mise en abyme », entre autres, à partir de leur acception littéraire, afin d’en proposer une adaptation au domaine pictural. Ces considérations sont complétées par une réflexion sur les différents degrés de métaiconicité. Cette thèse s’attache ensuite à mettre en avant les points communs et les différences des deux peintres avec d’autres courants artistiques tels que le Pop Art ou la Figuration narrative. Ces analyses ouvrent alors une étude sur les questions de « chronique » et de « narration » à travers les six premières séries créées par l’Équipe, qui sont mises en perspective avec leur contexte de création. Enfin, à travers l´étude des neuf séries suivantes (créés jusqu’en 1977), ces recherches s’attachent à mettre en évidence la présence des concepts de Mémoire, d’Histoire et d’histoire de l’art à travers des créations qui s’inscrivent dans une époque politiquement intense pour l’Espagne. Il s’agit, finalement, de démontrer que les peintres valenciens s’inscrivent non seulement dans l’histoire de l’art, qu’ils l’utilisent comme matériau, mais qu’ils deviennent des historiens de l’art à travers les réflexions métaiconiques proposées dans leur peinture. La conclusion revient largement sur le concept de métaiconicité, puis évoque les séries créées entre 1977 et 1981 afin de mettre en avant leur particularité face au corpus de cette thèse. / This thesis first tackles the notion of "inter-iconicity" so as to then scrutinize the creations made by Equipo Crónica and the way their use of technique evolved throughout the years. The aim is to try and define concepts such as "parody", "transvestement", "allusion", "quotation" and "mise en abyme" - among others -, and, starting from their literary meaning, to suggest an adaptation of such terms to the pictorial domain. Such considerations are further detailed through the exploration of the various stages of meta-iconicity. This dissertation considers the points of convergence and divergence between the two painters at stake and the other artistic trends such as Pop Art or narrative Figuration. These analyses pave the way to a study of the concepts of "chronicle" and "narration" through the first six series created by the Equipe, that are then put into the context of their creation. Finally, through the study of the nine following series (created up to 1977), this research tries to shed light on the presence of the concepts of "Memory", "History" and the history of art through works of art that were created in a politically-charged context for Spain. Eventually, the aim is to show how Valencian painters inscribed themselves in the history of art which they used as a material, and at the same time how they turn into historians of art themselves, through meta-iconic reflections suggested in their paintings. The conclusion dwells on the concept of meta-iconicity and alludes to the series of paintings created between 1977 and 1981 so as to emphasize their particularities when compared with the rest of the corpus.