Theses defended in 2021

Date: December 9, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Géraldine MICHEL

Jury members:

• Mrs Géraldine MICHEL, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mrs Sondès ZOUAGHI, Professor, IAE, Rouen University, Rapporteur
• Mr Jean-Luc HERRMANN, Professor, University of Lorraine, Rapporteur
• Mrs Nathalie VEG-SALA, Maitre de conférences HDR, Université de Nanterre, Suffragante
• Mr Thomas ROULET, Associate Professor, University of Cambridge, Suffragant

Abstract

This research uses the theoretical framework of stigmatization to shed new
light on range extension strategies towards controversial products such as halal or modest fashion aimed at Muslim consumers in France. Firstly, this work sheds light on the visible and invisible strategies of brands in stigmatized markets, and highlights the key role of experts in border management to protect brands from the negative effects of stigma transfer. (i) A netnographic study identifies a profile of consumers who are activists and saboteurs of brands that launch stigmatized products, (ii) A qualitative study shows that although Muslim consumers welcome generalist brands that launch products targeting them, they question their legitimacy. (iii) Finally, an experiment carried out with 423 respondents shows a transfer of stigmatization from the product to the brand, and reveals that non-Muslims evaluate these brand strategies more negatively than Muslims. Indeed, in the face of extensions to highly stigmatized products, non-Muslims feel a threat to their social identity that will provoke more negative attitudes and behaviors than extensions to low-stigmatized products. Furthermore, our research suggests the "buffering effect" of brand attachment insofar as consumers with low brand attachment engage more in brand-challenging behaviors compared to consumers with high brand attachment.

Date: December 1, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Ouidade SABRI

Jury members:

• Mrs Ouidade SABRI, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mrs Linda HAMDI-KIDAR, Associate Professor, Toulouse Business School, Rapporteur
• Mrs Agnès HELME-GUIZON, Professor, IAE Grenoble, Université Grenoble-Alpes, Rapporteur
• Mrs Maria MERCANTI-GUERIN, Senior Lecturer, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragante
• Mr Gilles N'GOALA, Professor, Institut Montpellier management, Suffragant
• Mr Nicholas PAPAROIDAMIS, Director of Research, Leonardo Da Vinci Business School, Suffragant

Summary

The 2010s have seen social networks develop and become privileged exchange spaces for the majority of individuals. Among these spaces, discussion groups stand out for constitution characteristics that have, until now, received little research attention. This thesis focuses on the effect of these characteristics on members' engagement and self-disclosure behaviours, studying both the way in which group constitution affects the behaviours of the individuals who join them, and the hitherto little-studied relationship between the concepts of self-disclosure and engagement with the group.

Date: November 26, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Ouidade SABRI

Jury members:

• Mrs Ouidade SABRI, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mrs Marie-Christine LICHTE, Professor, University of Montpellier 1, Rapporteur
• Mr Paul NGOBO, Professor, Université Paris Dauphine, Rapporteur
• Mrs BATAT WIDED, Professor, EM Normandie Business, Metis Lab & Université Lyon 2, Suffragante
• Mr. Jean-Pierre HELFER, Professor Emeritus, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragant
• Mr Benjamin BOEUF, Associate professor, IESEG School of management, Suffragant

Summary

While political parody is an ancient tradition, alive and well in ancient Greece as well as under the Roman Empire, flourishing under the Third Republic, parody and forms of political humor are essential resources for a democracy (Hariman, 2008). Indeed, the popularity of programs such as Canteloup on TF1 has not ceased to be appreciated since it first appeared. Add to this the current success of weekly publications such as le canard enchainé and Charlie Hebdo, whose dynamism is the envy of the entire French press, or the considerable success of certain political parodies during the last presidential elections on YouTube, which recorded millions of views.
The Internet enables not only politicians, but also the public, to participate in political life. The Internet enables not only politicians but any user or media outlet to disseminate content. So any type of content that captures the imagination of users or the media can be shared at the click of a mouse with millions of people, sometimes generating millions of views and thousands of interactions. Such content could present a threat or an opportunity for politicians and the political brand.
The French public's infatuation with political parody has aroused the interest of many observers, political scientists, sociologists and anthropologists, who have wondered about the reasons and significance of such success. Indeed, the public is looking for an alternative to the traditional "langue de bois" of those who govern them, and sometimes seeks an alternative to a dominant discourse in which their opinions are not necessarily expressed. This interest in political parodies makes the impact of this new form of political communication worthy of investigation. Our thesis is in line with this logic. We aim to explore the impact of political parody on political attitudes, commitment and behavior from a managerial point of view, by considering the politician as a political brand. Indeed, we were able to identify some key factors influencing the evaluation of political parody, which have never been explored by research.
Research on political parody in the fields of psychology and/or communication and media often presents contradictory results regarding its effectiveness on voting attitudes and intention. Moreover, no research has explored its persuasive power based on its content type and communication source.

In addition, the psychological mechanisms through which political parody might exert effects based on the identified dimensions of content type, and communication source have never been studied.

This doctoral work, positioned in political marketing and more specifically in political communication, aims to answer the following question:

How do the content and communication source of political parodies impact citizens' attitudes and engagement?

To answer this question, we distinguish four sets of sub-questions that correspond to four chapters that make up this thesis. First, should politicians be concerned with political parodies when managing their personal branding and brand? What are the key dimensions that characterize reactions to political parodies? The results of the qualitative study show that content and predisposition towards the politician are key dimensions that characterize reactions to political parodies from the point of view of both the parodist and the parodied politician, a matrix has been proposed to better illustrate the effects of political parody.

Secondly, and based on content, do all political parodies have the same effect on the politician, which ones damage the politicians' brand image the most? What is the profile of citizens who are most receptive to the content of political parodies? Based on a categorization of political parodies according to their content, we concluded that attacks on a political topic generate a more negative impact on the political brand than attacks on the politician's personality and person via the mediating role of perceived ethics and attitude towards parody. Indeed, those exposed to personal attacks consider them inappropriate, unfair and unethical. Our study shows that political parodies containing personal attacks can generate backlash mainly among those who initially dislike the politician. Thirdly, what role does the media source of the political parody play in perceived influence? What is the psychological process underlying the impact of source-based political parody on perceived influence? We show that media-generated parodies (MGPs) lead to a more negative attitude towards parody and less perceived influence than user-generated parodies (UGPs), through the intention to manipulate the perceived source. Our results suggest that highly media-skeptical citizens evaluate MGP more negatively than UGP. Fourthly, to dig even deeper into the personal attacks very present in political parodies we asked ourselves the following questions: What types of personal attacks generate more negative engagement on social media? What factors influence political parodies based on personal attacks on the politician? What is the process through which political parodies based on personal attacks generate an impact on the valence of social media engagement? The results show that, compared with personal attacks that contain controllable stigmas (e.g. personality-related criticism), parodies that contain uncontrollable stigmas (e.g. physical criticism) produce more negative social media engagement with the parodist and his parody via the mediating role of moral emotions that condemn the parodist. Paradoxically, this effect is more present among those who initially disliked the politician as they perceive the parodist as a member of their community sharing the same ideology and political orientation.

From a theoretical point of view, this doctoral work contributes to the understanding of the impact of political parody considering the politician as a personal brand or what is called -personal branding-, which should protect his reputation in different media. In fact, personal branding has been around in politics for several years now, and the concept is used either as part of a communication strategy based on co-branding between the politician's brand and the political party's brand, or as part of a personal brand communication strategy (Hughes, 2007). Although it is sometimes complicated to associate the politician with a brand (Heilburnn, 2016), our postulate relies on this conception to demonstrate the shift from a mass-media model to a consumerist model of political communication (Scammel, 2006).

In this thesis, we shed light on the mechanisms of political parody performance by revealing several processes of mediation and moderation. The methodological implications of this work are twofold: we used a content analysis method that has never been mobilized in research on political parody, analyzing all political parodies published in France on YouTube from 2012 to 2019, as well as various interactions (likes, dislikes, views), and we also used a methodology based on an analysis of 31,000 comments with algorithmic machine learning methods.

This thesis contains managerial implications for both parodists and parodied politicians. On the parodist's side, this thesis can provide some recommendations on the type of content to put forward to discredit the politician and thus achieve the desired effectiveness, or the content to avoid so as not to create a counterproductive effect and backlash. On the parodied politician's side, this doctoral work will guide politicians in deciding which parodies do or don't require a reaction. Indeed, some political parodies that are based on non-constructive criticism, and do not advance the political debate may on the contrary favor the reputation of the parodied politician.

Date: November 9, 2021

Thesis director: Géraldine SCHMIDT
Thesis co-director: Damien MOUREY, UPF

Jury members:

• Mrs Géraldine SCHMIDT, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mr Damien MOUREY, Professor, University of French Polynesia, Thesis co-director
• Mrs Isabelle BOUTY, Professor, Université Paris Dauphine PSL, Rapporteur
• Mr Christophe MILDER, Emeritus Research Director, CNRS, Rapporteur
• Mme Anne-Sophie FERNANDEZ, Maître de conférences HDR, Montpellier Management, Université de Montpellier, Suffragante
• Mr Hervé LAROCHE, Professor, ESCP Europe, Suffragan
• Mrs Ann LANGLEY, Professor Emeritus, HEC Montréal, Suffragante

Summary

This thesis sets out to examine the formation of organizational legitimacy through a case study, that of a strategic purchasing alliance between two competing chains in the French supermarket sector.

While the construction of organizational legitimacy has been the subject of numerous publications attached to the (neo) institutional current, it has been relatively little addressed from both a processual and social perspective. In this context, strategic alliances, characterized by their organizational dynamics and instability, appear to be relevant research objects for enriching our understanding of legitimacy formation. The mobilization of the theory of social regulation (T.R.S.) allows us to take a fresh look at the way in which the legitimization of an organization takes place collectively.
A survey, in the pragmatist sense of the term, of the way in which the legitimization of an organization takes place collectively. An investigation, in the pragmatist sense of the term, was carried out at the heart of a strategic alliance to study in situ how actors participate in the legitimization process. Our empirical material, mainly ethnographic in nature, led us, following a narrative strategy, to recount fifteen situations in which the negotiation of the alliance's legitimacy is played out through the rules of inter- and intra-organizational collaboration.

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Our thesis reveals the dual movement driving the formation of legitimacy: the resistance of actors due to their autonomy in the face of the legitimizing intentions of organizational leaders, and the collective reappropriation of the alliance's legitimacy stakes. The regulationist approach highlights the composite arrangements of legitimization, manifesting itself as a rhizomic social process of rule negotiation.

The thesis thus advances a novel explanation for the chronic instability of strategic alliances by linking it to the impermanence of the social order. The challenge is then to integrate regulatory issues into the function of alliance manager. Finally, the thesis invites us, by
emphasizing the originality and relevance of S.R.T., to extend its field of investigation to other research endeavoring to integrate the indeterminacy and pluralism of organizational phenomena."

Date: July 12, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Olivier DE LA VILLARMOIS

Jury members:

• Mr Olivier DE LA VILLARMOIS, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
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• Mr Marc OHANA, Professor, Kedge Business School, Rapporteur
• Mrs Catherine KUSZLA, Professor, Université Paris Nanterre, Rapporteur
• Mr Patrick VALEAU, Professor, Université de la Réunion, Suffragant
• Mr Frédéric GAUTIER, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragant

Abstract

The COVID-19 health crisis has led organizations to accelerate their digitalization to facilitate working from home. COVID-19. This situation has highlighted the importance of the issue of team management in a digitized context (Caligiuri et al., 2020).

The literature places a great deal of emphasis on the use of engagement-based HRM systems, even though there are debates linked to the definition of these practices and their effectiveness. Conversely, there is little research devoted to control-based HRM systems. This research, focuses on the effects of using control-based human resource management systems on employee commitment by mobilizing self-determination theory: it is by satisfying the needs for autonomy and competence that this management system would achieve employee buy-in.

The results of this research confirm the positive link between the implementation of a control-based HRM system and employee commitment. These effects are even stronger in highly digitized contexts. However, self-determination theory fails to explain the process by which control-based HRM systems affect employee engagement.

Date: June 7, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Philippe EYNAUD

Jury members:

• Mr. Philippe EYNAUD, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mr Damien MOUREY, Professor, University of French Polynesia, Thesis co-director
• Mrs Amina BEJI-BECHEUR, University Professor, Université Paris-Est, Rapporteur
• Mr Patrick VALEAU, Professeur des Universités, Université de La Réunion, Rapporteur
• Mrs Nathalie RAULET-CROSET, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragante
• Mme Nadine RICHEZ BATTESTI, Senior Lecturer, Université Aix-Marseille, Suffragante
• Mme Marie Astrid LE THEULE, Senior Lecturer, CNAM, Suffragante

Abstract

The organization of expression groups for users accommodated in institutions, emanates from regulations imposed on non-profit organizations. In this context, the exercise of democracy is an issue of adherence to a common associative project. The interactions that take place through participative or deliberative framing have an influence on the actors in the situation. They could thus encourage the transformation of managers and the emergence of psychosocial skills that would reduce the asymmetry of information between managers and users. In this way, actors experience the power of acting together to reinvent the total institution. How, we ask, does learning the democratic process contribute to this transformation? Our longitudinal approach to three different self-expression groups, initiated in child protection institutions, is multimodal and dramaturgical. It is based on the collection of qualitative data and the observation of interaction frameworks that inform us about the reality of the democratic process in a constrained environment.

Date: May 28, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Ouidade SABRI
Thesis co-director: Fabienne BERGER-REMY

Jury members:

• Mrs Ouidade SABRI, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mrs Fabienne BERGER-REMY, Maitre de conférences, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis co-supervisor
• Mrs Catherine DEMANGEOT, Maitre de conférences HDR, IÉSEG, Rapporteur
• Mrs Nathalie VEG-SALA, Maître de conférences HDR, Université Paris Nanterre, Rapporteur
• Mr Jordan LEBEL, Professor, Concordia University, Suffragant
• Mrs Géraldine MICHEL, Professor, IAE-Paris Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragante

Summary

Context: Accelerating globalization is transforming brand-consumer relationships through the offshoring of the former's product manufacturing and the latter's increasing exposure to multicultural markets.

Objective: The aim of this thesis is to propose a multicultural perspective on brand communities that goes beyond the local, national or international distinction to integrate the culture of the brand community with its idiosyncrasies as the main frame of reference.

Method: In a semio-anthropological approach, we study the exchanges of a brand community online around questions of country of origin, which is essential to the brand's identity and is the object of constant evaluation through a Greimasian-inspired semiotic analysis of the generative path of meaning to qualify the values of the brand and its community. We carry out an online ethnography of selected discussions, which we process through content analysis using thematic coding, focusing mainly on value-creating practices and cross-cultural attitudes (xenocentrism, ethnocentrism, cosmopolitanism, consumer animosity and affinity). We continue with an analysis of narrativity and the semiotic square to qualify the brand's values and its community.

Results and analysis: we produce a discursive repertoire that enables us to establish the practices of a vivre-ensemble in the brand community, yet taking into account different orientations according to the various cultural relationships and trajectories of consumers and brands.

Contributions: we introduce the notion of brand endocentrism, identify an axiology of the multicultural relationships of the brand and its community and, finally, propose the foundations of a matrix for managing these relationships.

Practical implications: we establish general communication logics that can be used to formulate a coherent strategy in relation to the brand's identity and the nature of its audiences. By positioning the brand in relation to its values and those of its audience, the manager will be able to develop a message consistent with the characteristics of living together that they generate. We also propose rhetorical figures that enable the message to be declined according to the audience and the desired tone.

Date: April 14, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Géraldine MICHEL
Thesis co-director: Sophie RIEUNIER, Professor, Université Gustave EIFFEL

Jury members:

• Mrs Géraldine MICHEL, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mrs Sophie RIEUNIER, Professor, IAE Gustave Eiffel, Université Gustave Eiffel, Thesis co-director
• Mrs Nathalie GUICHARD, Professor, Université Paris Saclay, Rapporteur
• Mrs Sondès ZOUAGHI, Professor, IAE de Caen, University of Caen, Rapporteur
• Mr Abdelmajid AMINE, Professeur, IAE Gustave Eiffel, Université Paris Est Créteil, Suffragant
• Mr Bertrand URIEN, Professor, IAE de Brest, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Suffragant

Summary

Many research studies have shown that older consumers perceive themselves to be ten years younger than their chronological age, and that their consumption is more influenced by this subjective age. At the same time, they are constrained by social norms of age, gender and social roles, which force them to behave in line with their actual age.

Our doctoral work sets out to make this paradox explicit through a better understanding of the subjective age assessment process, which simultaneously reflects psychological, emotional, biological, physical, social and cognitive dimensions. The results of our two qualitative studies on women in their fifties show that social norms have a more significant influence on the consumption behavior of appearance-related products than subjective age.

In fact, despite a rejuvenation bias, these consumers adopt consumption behavior more in line with their real age. Furthermore, our results highlight the variation in subjective age over short periods, whereas previous research indicates that it remains relatively stable until the occurrence of transition events. We show how context influences its evaluation through intra- and interpersonal social comparison processes.

Date: March 2, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Frédéric GAUTIER

Jury members:

• Mr Frédéric GAUTIER, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mr François AUBERT, Professor, University of Clermont-Ferrand, Rapporteur
• Mr Éric SEVERIN, Professor, University of Lille, Rapporteur
• Mr. Nizar ATRISSI, Professor, Saint-Joseph University of Beirut, Suffragan
• Mr. Éric LAMARQUE, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragant

Abstract

This research examined the impact of Basel III capital regulation (BCR) on the credit risk (CR) and profitability (P) of Lebanese banks on the basis of 4 modules. Modules 1 and 2 are quantitative, studying the effect of BCR on CR and P respectively. Module 3 is qualitative, studying the trade-off between bank risk and profitability under Basel III capital regulations. Module 4 studied the interaction effect of GDP growth on the relationship between BCR, CR and P. Modules 1 and 2 are constructed using a sample of 25 commercial banks in Lebanon over the period 2012-2017. BCR is measured using the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and the Common Equity Tier one ratio (CET1 ratio). CR is measured using the net provision for credit losses/total assets ratio. P is measured using two ratios: ROAA and ROAE.

To analyze the data, we built a hybrid model based on 3 statistical approaches.

Firstly, we modeled the dual impact of BCR on CR and P using probabilistic inference within the Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) formalism.

Secondly, to highlight the correlation between BCR, CR and P, we used Spearman's correlation test as a nonparametric approach.

Thirdly, to study the simultaneous effect of the CAR and CET1 ratio on CR and P, we applied multivariate regression analysis. Module 3 is constructed from a sample of 30 commercial banks in Lebanon. We used semi-structured interviews with the Chief Risk Officer (CRO).

To examine the impact of Basel III capital regulation on risk and profitability, we asked our CRO's to assess risk and profitability based on 5 scale measures before and after the implementation of Basel III in Lebanon. Module 4 examined the moderating effect of GDP growth (M) compared to previous modules 1 and 2 with two scenarios: The effect of the moderator (M) on the relationship between BCR and CR. The effect of the moderator (M) on the relationship between BCR and P.

The results for module 1 showed that there is a minor effect of BCR on CR in particular for the high level of CET1 ratio. Yet more specific research with the use of Spearman's correlation test and multivariate regression analysis yielded no statistically significant effect of BCR on CR. With regard to module 2, we concluded that the impact of BCR on P is only revealed between CAR and ROAA, and this regression relationship is weak, as only 24.3% of ROAA variance changes are explained by CAR. As for module 3, the results showed that after the implementation of Basel III in Lebanon, risk and profitability decreased in banks. We also noted that this effect was much greater in small and high-risk banks. The results of the last module showed that there was no moderating effect of GDP growth (M) on the relationship between BCR, CR and P. Yet the results of this thesis contradicted the regulators in some areas. This provides an opportunity for further study of the correlation between Basel III and credit risk in MENA banks

Date: January 11, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Philippe DESSERTINE

Jury members:

• Mr. Philippe DESSERTINE, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mrs Céline BARREDY, Professor, Université Paris Nanterre, Rapporteur
• Mr Pascal BARNETO, Professor, IAE de Bordeaux, Rapporteur
• Mr. Éric LAMARQUE, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragant
• Mr Franck BANCEL, Professor, Ecole des Ponts Paris-Tech, Suffragant"

Summary

Our work consists in studying the integration of sustainable development issues in the financial sphere, focusing mainly on capital markets and their actors, and posing the following research question: "do financial markets put a price on the responsible and environmental performance of companies?"

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Our research is conducted within the theoretical framework of financial asset valuation, a theoretical framework that is currently facing two major revolutions. On the one hand, the "sustainable" revolution, which poses a new problem for financial players in the form of a global systemic risk that can only be compared in its potential impact to the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction. As financial players begin to understand the economic risk - among others - of failing to mitigate climate change, biodiversity loss, extreme weather events and related natural disasters, financial markets will inevitably change. The five essays in this doctoral thesis represent an attempt, using the most reliable data available today, to understand how these financial markets may be changing. On the other hand, the data revolution is bringing massive and constant flows of new forms of data to financial market players, processed using computers whose power is constantly increasing, as well as new and highly demanding methods of advanced statistical processing and machine learning needed to analyze these growing databases.

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The first stage of our work consists of exploring how practitioners, academics and regulators are trying to define what constitutes responsible finance, and allows us to understand that a consensus on this subject has still not been reached to date.

In a second step, we look at climate businesses - those companies whose 75% of sales come from activities aligned with the climate objectives of the Paris conference - and analyze how capital markets have financed traditional and climate businesses in the USA and Europe over the last few decades. This analysis allows us to understand that bond markets have a more important role in financing these companies than equity markets.

In a third step, we choose to focus on the corporate bond market and the specific problem of building a reliable financial database on US corporate bond data, green bonds and climate bonds.

A fourth step is, using this database, to apply conventional asset valuation methods on a database of traditional and climate corporate bonds between 2005 and 2019, and we find some differences between these two products.

Finally, a final step is an attempt to understand, using this same database, how new factors and machine learning analysis methods can also be used to better explain and predict corporate bond performance and differentiate between traditional and climate corporate bonds.

Date: January 8, 2021

Thesis supervisor: Géraldine SCHMIDT
Thesis co-director: Rémi BOURGUIGNON, Professor, IAE Gustave Eiffel

Jury members:

• Mrs Géraldine SCHMIDT, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mr Rémi BOURGUIGNON, Professor, IAE Gustave Eiffel, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Thesis co-director
• Mr Emmanuel ABORD DE CHATILLON, Professor, IAE Grenoble, Université Grenoble-Alpes, Rapporteur
• Mr Franck AGGERI, Professor, Mines Paris-Tech, Rapporteur
• Mrs Amina BEJI-BECHEUR, Professor, IAE Gustave Eiffel, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Suffragante
• Mr Yves MOULIN, Professeur, IAE Nancy, Université de Lorraine, Suffragant

Summary

Objects still little studied in management science, sustainable mobility schemes in companies face a surprising paradox: while they stem from a dual normative and societal pressure, they appear remote from economic performance concerns, sometimes even considered as "peripheral" and carried by isolated individuals in the company. The particularity of these measures is that they have an impact at both organizational level (managerial deployment, changes in work organization, embodiment of the subject, etc.) and individual level (changes in mobility practices, impact on life paths, personal environmental sensitivity, etc.). This thesis proposes to study through what dialectic the legitimacy of these emerging CSR devices is formed.

Through a comprehensive and interpretativist methodological approach, the study of two corporate cases, Crédit and Green Energy, shows us that the process of forming the legitimacy of such an object hinges on both organizational and individual dimensions, in constant interaction and influencing each other.

Our research demonstrates how the action and status of the project leader, as well as the networks he or she mobilizes, moderate or reinforce the legitimacy of the device under study. The research also reveals attempts to delegitimize the system at organizational level, and avoidance strategies at individual level. Their identification is crucial to enable concrete action on points of resistance and inspire the construction of a global approach to introducing emerging CSR devices internally.

Date: January 7, 2021

Thesis director: Philippe EYNAUD
Thesis co-director: Elena LASIDA, Maitre de Conférence, Université Catholique de Paris

Jury members:

• Mr. Philippe EYNAUD, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Thesis Director
• Mrs Elena LASIDA, Professor, Institut catholique de Paris, Thesis co-director
• Mrs Stéphanie CHATELAIN-PONROY, University Professor, CNAM, Rapporteur
• Mrs Bérangère LAUREN SZOTAK, Professeur des Universités, Université de Lorraine, Rapporteur
• Mrs Géraldine SCHMIDT, Professor, IAE Paris-Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Suffragante
• Mr Éric PEZET, Professeur des Universités, Université de Nanterre, Suffragant
• Mr Hartmut ROZA, Professor, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany, Suffragant
• Mr Bernard PERRET, Lecturer, Institut catholique de Paris, Guest
• Mr Guillaume LEGAUT, Managing Director, UCPA Group, Guest

Summary

This thesis focuses on the strategic management of the social transformation capacities of large organizations in the social and solidarity economy (SSE). It shows that the identity of SSE organizations rests on an articulation between instrumental and non-instrumental logics, an articulation called into question by the institutional pressure these organizations face, resulting both from the competitive bath in which they evolve, and from their relationship with public power. It also shows that the social innovation driving SSE organizations is also linked to non-instrumental dynamics. Yet management studies remain elusive on the non-instrumental relational stakes of SSE organizations' strategy, an aspect that nevertheless appears to be linked to their ability to take part in social transformation.

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The research is based on an open-ended case study, with an ethnographic and historical flavor, anchored in the dense description of the evolution of strategic, organizational and environmental phenomena of a large associative group prototypical of social and solidarity economy organizations, the UCPA Group, a major player in the French tourism and sports leisure sector. It mobilizes sociologist and philosopher Hartmut Rosa's (2018) critical theory of relation to the world to explore the relational dimension of this organization over time. It emerges that the strength of its project lies in the non-instrumental nature of the relationships forged within the organization. The analysis also looks at how, over time, management methods accentuate or attenuate the organization's resonance potential. Finally, the theory of resonance enables us to outline a strategic management approach that preserves this organizational disposition to resonance, which is constitutive of the social transformation capacity of SSE organizations.