In the interconnected world of today more and more people get on the move. We go abroad for vacations, visits or business trips and we change countries of residence as we pursue new opportunities. Cross-border mobility is becoming part of our life. In recent years consumer researchers have been showing an increasing interest in particularities of consumption in condition of global mobility. Although previous studies have acknowledged the importance of economic capital in enabling global consumer mobility, existing research could be enriched by a deeper understanding of how globally mobile consumers manage their financial consumption across borders. The aim of this dissertation is to is to contribute to the uncovering of the particularities of consumption of financial services in global mobility by documenting globally mobile consumers’ financial consumption patterns, the ways they build and maintain relationships with their financial service providers and the ways in which they navigate cultural norms of service consumption and financial consumption across borders. The study is based on four research articles that develop an understanding of the dimensions of financial consumption and uncover purchasing, relational and acculturative aspects of consumption of financial services in mobility. The overarching chapter further develops the insights from the articles, bringing forward the concept of the cephalopodic consumption mode – a particular way in which globally mobile consumers organize their financial consumption. This work contributes to the domain of research on serially relocating consumers by showing how globally mobile professionals engage in cephalopodic consumption mode (CCM), using their economic capital in order to navigate their international movement. The multipresence, multi-acculturation, instrumentality and camouflage of CCM emerge as an answer to challenges of mobility – the need to reacquaint with new countries every time upon relocation, the future need to leave again and the necessity to organize consumption across borders. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Context and Objectives: There is an increasing recognition that there is great potential in utilizing learning in client relationships as this can enable service providers to develop relational capabilities and more successfully manage relationships. Building on this premise, the present study argues that learning in relationships relates to the ability to learn from the local context to leverage relationship success. To do this, requires an understanding of what drives success in each stage of relationship development and how this can be achieved to ensure success. The aim of the research is to explore the potential for learning in business service relationships, through the exploration of learning needs relevant in stages of relationship development. Learning needs are defined as what service providers need to learn about how to leverage successful relationships at each stage of development. Research Methodology: The study employs two qualitative case studies of business service providers that provide contextually differing embedding conditions for relationships and learning. Data has been gathered through interviews with individual service providers, observation of practice and organisational documentation. The research undertaken explores service providers’ approach towards relationship development, with the aim of identifying critical factors influencing success in each relationship stage and corresponding opportunities for learning through the experiences and challenges faced by service providers in practice. Findings: Results highlights that learning from the local context is critical for managing relationship success. Critical success factors for each stage are identified from the experiences and challenges faced by service providers across the two cases. These are translated into learning needs for each stage that aim to guide service providers’ attempts to learn from the local context in order to inform and adapt their approach. The appreciation of learning needs in relation to the unique context of each organisation directs attention to corresponding guidelines for practice. The research concludes with the proposition of a theoretical model for learning in relationships as well as a practical learning needs framework that can be incorporated in service providers’ practices for managing client relationships. Importantly results suggest that becoming relationally capable requires a transition to embracing a learning orientation in terms of both philosophy and process. Research Relevance and Implications: The study extends the potential for the creation of a relational capability in business relationships through the exploration of learning needs. Findings suggest that relationship management can be viewed as a cyclical process of learning and adaptation where success at each stage rests on the ability to read and learn from the local context and engage in appropriate actions in practice. The study contributes towards practice, by providing a practical framework through which service providers can develop relational learning. Exploration and appreciation of learning needs in stages of relationship development can aid service providers in the establishment of appropriate approaches towards intervention or stimulation of relationship success.

Depuis leur identification comme structures favorisant l’apprentissage et le transfert de connaissances entre les membres de l’organisation, les Communauté de Pratique (CP) ont attiré l’attention de plusieurs praticiens en management, mais aussi des chercheurs qui ont mis en avant leurs rôles opérationnels dans les organisations (Lave et Wenger 1991 ; Brown et Duguid, 1991 ; Wenger 1998 ; Smith et Farquhar 2000 ; Lesser et Stork 2001 ; Mc Dermott 2002 ; Guérin 2005 ; Schenkel et Teigland, 2008 ; Hemmasi et Csanda, 2009), et d’autres se sont efforcés à identifier leurs caractéristiques épistémiques et structurelles (Wenger 1998 ; Chanal 2000 ; Cohendet et al., 2003 ; Blunt, 2003 ; Josserand et St Leger, 2004 ; Guérin 2005 ; Thompson 2005.). Cependant, il existe peu d’études systématiques sur la contribution des Communautés de Pratique (CP) à la performance de leurs membres. Ce lien reste encore à caractériser. Ceci a amorcé donc notre volonté pour nous pencher sur ce sujet. La CP est toujours présentée comme émergente et ancrée dans l’organisation dans laquelle elle évolue. Son émergence est principalement expliquée par l’écart qui existe dans les organisations entre le travail prescrit et le travail réel auquel les salariés font face (Lave et Wenger, 1991 ; Brown et Duguid 1991 ; Wenger, 1998 ; Schenkel et Teigland, 2008). Notre petite expérience en tant que salarié dans le front-office d’une organisation de service nous a permis de constater ledit écart et nous avons commencé alors à nourrir notre réflexion à propos de ce contexte. Les théoriciens s’intéressant aux entreprises de service ont présenté le contexte de ces dernières comme marqué par des situations multiples et variées, imprévisibles et délicates à gérer. C’est ce qui provoque un écart entre ce qui est prescrit par les règles organisationnelles et le travail réel tel que réalisé par les agents. En d’autres termes, les modes opératoires prescrits ne couvrent pas toutes les situations possibles et se montrent parfois incapables de résoudre certains problèmes. L’instabilité des situations qui provoque cet écart dans le contexte des relations de service, est due et imputée essentiellement à la participation du client au processus d’élaboration de service : la « coproduction » du service (Eiglier et Langeard, 1987 ; Hatchuel, 1996 ; Gadrey 1996 et 2002 ; Hanique et Jobet, 2001 ; Pichault et Zune, 2000 ; David, 2001 ; Bouzit, 2001 ; Hubault et Bourgeois, 2001 ; Zarifian, 2002 ; Jeantet, 2003, etc.). Ce contexte des relations de service nous a semblé particulièrement pertinent pour mener notre analyse relative aux CP. Toutefois, la multiplication des divisions dans les entreprises de service (front-office et back-office) rendait difficile d’aborder les relations de service dans leur globalité. Ceci nous a conduit à délimiter notre terrain et à centrer notre étude davantage sur une des sphères la composant. Nous avons alors choisi de nous intéresser à l’univers des front-office. Enfin, et étant donné que notre thèse s’inscrit dans les sciences de gestion, et plus précisément dans le volet relatif à la Gestion des Ressources Humaines (GRH), nous avons alors pensé à tirer quelques enseignements pour les pratiques de GRH dans les organisations. En fait, il s’agit d’une tentative de rapprochement du concept de CP et la GRH qui donne une certaine originalité à notre travail. Ceci nous permet de sortir un peu du courant commun et dominant dans le champ d’étude des CP, où les contributions sont souvent inscrites essentiellement dans l’approche du management des connaissances dans les organisations. / The Communities of Practice (CP) are identified as conductive structures for learning and knowledge transfer between members of the organization. Besides practitioners in management, many researchers were interested in these groups. Some have highlighted their operational roles in organizations (Lave et Wenger 1991 ; Brown et Duguid, 1991 ; Wenger 1998 ; Smith et Farquhar 2000 ; Lesser et Stork 2001 ; Mc Dermott 2002 ; Guérin 2005 ; Schenkel et Teigland, 2008 ; Hemmasi et Csanda, 2009), and others have tried to identify their structural and epistemic characteristics (Wenger 1998 ; Chanal 2000 ; Cohendet et al., 2003 ; Blunt, 2003 ; Josserand et St Leger, 2004 ; Guérin 2005 ; Thompson 2005.). However, the link between such communities and employee performance is seldom investi¬gated, especially in service firms. This has encouraged us to conduct our study on the relationship between CP and member’s performance in the context of service relationships and more specifically in the front office of these companies. Furthermore, our thesis is part of the Human Resource Management sciences, and we aim to draw some lessons for HRM practices in organizations. This is an attempt to bring the concept of CP and HRM that gives a certain originality in our work. This allows us to get some current common and dominant in the field of study of CP, where contributions are often recorded mainly in the approach to Knowledge Management in organization. • Our problemOur problem is based on the understanding and analysis of the CP's links with the performance of its members. The CP does contribute to the performance of its members in service relationships? To develop these questions, we decided to decompose it as follows:- Is there link between membership of an employee to a CP and its performance in the context of service relationships?- If this link exists, how this last one is built? What are the different mechanisms by which it was constuct in service relationships?- If this link exists, what are the lessons that may have drawn some HRM practices in organizations? • Our Method Following several authors’ advices, we turned in our empirical part to the case study approach. Un empirical work investigating a contemporary phenomenon in its context of real life (Yin, on 1994; Eisenhardt, on 1989 ; Baumard and Ibert, on 1998; Hoepfl, on 2007; Giordano, 2003) Our study is led in the front-office of two public organizations and in a bank (private sector). Eight units composing these devices of reception were studied : four call centers and four reception desks. Our study revealed interesting results. They have greatly enriched the knowledge in the various areas covered, as well as lessons for certain practices in organizations.