De 1998 à 2008, l'ONG canadienne Solidarité, union et coopération (SUCO) a appuyé, au Mali, un ensemble de 26 villages composant la commune rurale de Soye. Chacun de ces villages a pu se doter d'une association de développement villageois (ADV) responsable du développement global de la communauté. Ainsi, plusieurs villages ont su améliorer de façon notable leurs conditions de vie en agissant positivement sur leurs déterminants sociaux de la santé. En 2008 l'ONG SUCO met un terme à son programme. Une question s'impose : ce dernier sera-t-il pérenne? Cette recherche evaluative, menée de février à avril 2009, avait deux objectifs : 1) évaluer la pérennité de l'ADV du village à l'étude, et 2) comprendre quels ont pu être les éléments qui ont contribués à l'édification de cette pérennité. Optant pour un devis qualitatif de nature exploratoire, nous sommes demeuré inductif dans notre démarche. L'étude de cas a été l'approche méthodologique privilégiée. Notre collecte de données s'est accomplie en faisant appel à une revue documentaire, en tenant sept focus groups, en réalisant quatre entretiens individuels semi-directifs et cinq entretiens semi-directifs avec des informateurs clés. L'analyse des résultats nous permet de statuer que l'ADV du village de Sare est bien engagée dans la pérennité. Cette pérennité a été possible grâce à un certain nombre d'éléments déjà présents dans les façons de faire du programme de l'ONG SUCO. Mais, les résultats nous signalent que cette pérennité demeure fragile. À titre d'exemple, l'ADV de Sare semble ne pas posséder ni former de relève en mesure de succéder aux membres actuels de l'exécutif de l'ADV.

No / No / There are an increasing number of studies that have monitored the impact of Stress Management Interventions (SMls) and the results of these studies can play a vital role in informing the development of more effective, evidenced-based SMIs. In this paper, the authors have undertaken a review of United Kingdom (UK)-based research that has tested the impact of SMIs. Sixteen studies were examined and the results revealed that the vast majority of interventions were targeted at the individual employee, although there was a tendency for more recent research to focus on organisational level interventions. While all intervention levels were found to have some human and/or organisational benefits, strategies aimed at the individual level were less likely to result in longer-term benefits. An examination of the research methods used in the 16 studies indicated that UK-based researchers are beginning to adopt more rigorous research methods. However, there was a tendency for researchers to evaluate interventions over a relatively short time-frame. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

No / This paper aims to describe the development of a wholly new model of transformational leadership and its applications in practice. The paper provides a description of a wholly new, inclusive model of transformational leadership and the way in which it can be applied in practice, in the context of embedding good leadership within the culture of an organisation and ensuring "best practice" in 360-degree feedback. The paper finds that the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (TLQ)¿, which is both gender- and ethnicity-inclusive measure of "nearby" leadership, differs fundamentally from the kind of "heroic" models that have emanated from the USA and which have dominated the literature. Comparative data are presented of the mean scores on the TLQ, based on direct reports' ratings of their line manager, across a wide range of public sector organisations, including local government, the NHS, schools, and two central government agencies. Patterns emerge in areas of strength and developmental need, and the implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the impact of leadership behaviour and its effect on the psychological safety and well-being at work of staff. The following needs are identified: - to adopt a model of leadership that is relevant to the needs of organisations in the twenty-first century; to embed good leadership practices at all levels; to ensure that, when 360-degree feedback is given, it is done so in a way that conforms to the principles of 'best practice'. The following model of "nearby" leadership that is described is relevant to leaders at all levels in public and private sector organisations. It points to the consequences of poor leadership behaviour, and the need for the adoption of a model of leadership that is relevant to the needs of the twenty-first century.

No / This article brings strategy back to managers and their organizations. It argues and demonstrates empirically that what managers do, and the kind of organization they lead, matter in terms of achieving stated objectives. Managerial action involves a set of activities from assessing the problem to prioritising action, and takes place within an organizational context which has two important elements for decision-making. First, organizations have an accumulated stock of experience, and the more managers can access and utilise this experience base the better. Secondly, the culture and structure of an organization may exhibit more or less readiness for the changes that decisions bring about, and contexts less ready for change pose problems for managers in the implementation of decisions. This long-term study of 55 decisions in UK firms shows that careful managerial planning does not of itself guarantee successful outcomes: the organizational context is crucial in framing actions and influencing achievement, and decisions may send a firm on a trajectory beyond the point at which it can plan with confidence. Where experience and readiness are strong, decisions achieve stated objectives¿where both are lacking, decisions tend to fail. But, as examination of two illustrative cases indicates, strength in either domain may be enough: sound experience may win out in comparatively unreceptive situations, and decisions may still succeed where experience is lacking but the organization is ready for change. The article closes with some implications for managers.

No / Guest Editorial.

No

Yes / The integration of products and services into a bundled product/service offering by manufacturing organisations is seen as a global trend in today’s competitive business environment. The shift of product-based manufacturers towards offering business solutions and value-added services to consumers is termed as ‘Servitization’. Contrary to the potential benefits expected by adding service activities to the offerings, advocates voice their concerns towards experiential problems and challenges in employing the servitization strategy – termed as ‘Servitization Paradox’. Nevertheless, the shift from product-based delivery to a service-based provision has the potential to significantly impact on developing sustainable and eco-friendly environment. To provide greater insights to the servitization phenomenon, this paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the servitization implementation in manufacturing organisations. In order to respond to the latter, we propose the following three research questions “Q1 – what are the different types of servitization strategies”, “Q2 – what are the different servitization definitions”, “Q3 – what are the potential benefits in selecting a servitization strategy?”, “Q4 – what are the challenges in transitioning towards servitization?”. A systematic literature review is carried out to understand the past trends and extant patterns/themes in the servitization strategy research area, evaluate contributions, summarise knowledge, thereby identifying limitations, implications and potential further research avenues. The key findings confirm servitization studies have contributed both conceptually and empirically to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth to the manufacturing operations and supply chain discipline. Moreover, the findings clearly indicate the potential of servitization in transitioning manufacturing organisations (e.g. benefits) and utilising innovative technologies to generate business value. Nevertheless, some voices are backing further research/development in the area of servitization due to the several existing challenges.

The thesis aims to contribute to the research on the management and use of information in organisations by providing a holistic understanding of the various information practices and needs as well as attitudes towards information at different levels in the broader socio-historical context of a specific organisation. To this end, findings and approaches from research traditions in library and information science, management studies and organisational theory are combined in an activity-theoretical approach with some neo-institutional aspects. An empirical study using this theoretical framework investigates information activities in a Swedish youth organisation with the aim of contributing to peace and democracy. This study aims to answer research questions concerning how the individual and collective information practices of its Board members and the development of organisational strategies and routines for information activities are related to each other and to the socio-historical context of such organisations. The empirical data was gathered, firstly, through a qualitative case study of one youth/peace organisation, in which 14 members from two Boards were interviewed, 6 meetings were observed and e-mail communication and organisational documents were studied. The results were used in two questionnaires to Board members in a total sample of 9 similar youth/peace organisations to explore the assumption that a common socio-historical context would result in similar activities and constraints. Environmental scanning, seeking information, storing and retrieving information, creating information products, disseminating information to the environment and sharing information within the organisation are identified as distinct information activity systems in the case organisation that could be combined in a broader information management activity system. The outcome of Board members' individual, collective and organisational actions within these activities is mediated by a combination of how they perceive the objects, the available tools and resources, the chosen or emerging division of labour, organisational and collective aims and individual goals, and the explicit rules and implicit values that could be applied to the action in an organisational context. Most strategies are emergent in nature and start in a bottom-up process. A basic contradiction stemming from the socio-historical context of youth/peace organisations underlies the tensions in information activities. Board members have to make sense of contrasting identities in which empowerment is contrasted with professionalism as a basis for the organisations' legitimacy. The theoretical contribution of this study is the creation of two activity theoretical models for the analysis of information activities in organisations. The models provide a way to discuss the links between individual and collective information behaviour and organisational information management in a holistic perspective. They raise questions about the nature of these relationships and encompass the contextual aspects of information practices thus leading to a greater understanding of the ways in which information management develops in specific organisational contexts.

This article reports on the results of the identification of potential business opportunities for Non Governmental Organizations as an extra income to face the present funding challenge. Few research studies have been done on business opportunities as sources of income for NGO's. The aim of this study was to explore potential business opportunities as sources of income and it focused on the research of different possibilities. In this exploratory research study a qualitative approach was followed through interviews with business people and a focusgoup discussion to investigate potential business opportunities. Respondents were selected through purposive sampling techniques, eleven business men and a focusgroup consisting of five business men and six personnel of The Dutch Reformed Ministry or Caring. The eleven business men were recruited from the congregations of the Highveld Sinod. Data were collected through interviews with the business men and the focusgroup interview. Data were analysed according to themes. The following eight potential business opportunities were identified: government contracts, donations, improved marketing, fundraising strategies, buying of a business or shareholding in a business, partnerships, selling of therapeutic services and additional information and proposals. This offers business opportunities for NGO's to use as sources of income to sustain them and ensure that they can continue with their service delivery. The recommendation from the focus group was for more donations, an improved marketing strategy, the requirement or government contracts and selling of therapeutic services as potential opportunities. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Cette thèse vise à améliorer le contrôle de gestion des organisations publiques. L'objectif est de répondre à la question suivante : quel est le rôle et l'impact de l'étalonnage dans la gestion des organisations publiques ? A l'issue d'une revue de la littérature approfondie, un cadre d'analyse de la particularité des organisations publiques a été mise en place et a permis de dégager les spécificités de ces organisations, lesquelles ne permettent pas de mettre en pratique les outils classiques du contrôle de gestions tels que le tableau de bord, la lolf, le reporting... L'enquête a été réalisée sur un échantillon d'une quarantaine de personnes composé des universitaires, des agents des organisations publiques et des professionnels (experts comptables, commissaires aux comptes et avocats). L'ensemble des résultats obtenus a permis de valider l'hypothèse générale selon laquelle l'étalonnage constitue un outil d'amélioration des performances dans les organisations publiques. / This doctoral thesis addresses / exlpores the impact of management control on public organizations. The / my purpose is to question and evaluate the role of benchmarking in the management of public organizations and the ways in which this currently much used / popular / strategy / method can impact on the management / functioning of public organizations. This work offerts a comprehensive review of what has been written in the field. It also provides an analytical framework to assess the particularities / specific features of those organizations, those which make it difficult to implement the classic strategies / tools of management control, that is lolf, dashboard or reporting. A survey has been carried out with a sample group, of about forty people consisting of academics and other professionals: chartered accountants, financial auditors, legal counsels. The obtained results helped validate our general hypothesis that benchmarking does constitute a tool which can greatly improve the performance and management of public organizations.