Documents found
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181.More information
Youth migration has been affecting rural areas and small cities in Quebec for several decades—especially in the 1990s, following long periods of low birth rates. In efforts to counteract youth migration, social movements and other types of mobilizations have formed in many regions, in particular Saguenay−Lac-Saint-Jean. Among these is Regroupement Action Jeunesse (RAJ 02), a Saguenay−Lac-Saint-Jean-based movement that has supervised many initiatives. One prominent initiative of RAJ 02 is MigrAction, a development strategy that evolved through networking with a large number of actors for more than a decade. In our research, we seek to demonstrate that development is generally the result of the formation of social networks and coalitions through the building of collective naratives. We are particularly interested in two elements: leadership and discourse. In terms of methodology, we conducted semi-structured interviews with local and regional actors and also did press reviews. The research revealed that the implementation of empowerment strategies in peripheral regions gave rise to an intersubjective community which contributes to individual identity building. In addition, the research allowed to identify the roles of leadership and narratives within those strategies.
Keywords: Saguenay−Lac-Saint-Jean, mobilisation, développement, acteur, jeunes, discours, leadership, MigrAction, empowerment, development, actor, youth, narrative, leadership
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182.
Gestion des déchets ménagers : comment les collectivités françaises mobilisent-elles leurs usagers ?
More informationThis research aims at studying the actions developed by local authorities in order to lead households to adopt pro-environmental behaviours. Our research combines two complementary approaches.On the one hand, based on an economic approach, we analyze which choices make local authorities in order to encourage users of waste disposing services to throw away less waste. Within this framework we have established a typology of levers developed by local authorities. Then, based on an econometric study, we have pointed out the importance for local governments of taking into account households' characteristics in the definition of their waste management strategy.On the other hand, based on a human and social sciences approach, we notice a complex relationship between users and waste management service, as well as sorting practices tightly embedded in individuals' everyday life.
Keywords: déchets ménagers, implication des ménages, service public local, redevance incitative, household waste, households' involvement, local public service, unit pricing system
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183.More information
The "prisoner's dilemma" game describes how two actors should cooperate, but everyone can betray the other one. If one cooperates and the other betrays, the cooperator is penalized, the traitor is rewarded. If the two betray, their profits is less favourable than if they had cooperated. The “iterated play", allowing every protagonist to use of reprisals against the other one, is used to model political, biological and psychological phenomena. Using a graphic method we evidence that "to betray or to cooperate, to punish the unreliability" are the situations of interest in a comic strip. They contribute to new behaviours emergences. Pointing to the protagonists' strategies and variants that are present from one series to another, we show how a scenario will emerge. We evidence experimental economics rules (Nash's equilibrium, Pareto's optimum) and a scenario typology through a scientific systemic analysis. With a document of “littératie illustrée“, we can have a multidisciplinary educative course.
Keywords: dilemme des prisonniers, littératie illustrée, scénario, stratégie, typologie, pedagogic use of cartoons, prisoner's dilemma, scenario, strategy, typology
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188.More information
Over the last few decades, various countries have adopted laws and regulations fostering joint regulation and labour participation approaches in occupational heath and safety through joint health and safety committees, safety representatives, and workers' rights to be informed about work hazards and to refuse dangerous work. In order to succeed, these mechanisms should not remain isolated, but should be accompanied by larger organizational changes in labour relations, union and management practices. This article is about one of these organizational changes, namely, the transformation of supervisory management practices in occupational safety towards a more participative approach.Concepts and HypothesesGetting supervisors to adopt a participative management approach in occupational safety means changing their tasks and their way of doing them. From the perspective of a Systems theory of organizational change, it can be hypothesized that such a change will succeed only if consistent changes are brought about in other major components of the organizational System, namely : the individuals and groups involved; the formal organizational structures supporting and controlling individuals in their tasks; and the informal political and cultural dynamics of the organization. Each of these other components may present problems during the change process: resistance to change from individuals and groups; loss of control from formal structures; or loss of support from power groups and fallure of adjustment of cultural corporate values. The concept of organizational change strategy is used to designate all actions taken in the organization to address the aforementioned problems. Consequently, change strategies, which are the independent variable in this study, may be more or less developed and systematic. It is hypothesized that when the change strategy is more developed and systematic, (1) supervisors will use a more participative approach in managing prevention activities (inspection, task analysis, safety meetings, design of corrective measures, etc.) that is, getting their employees to participate in these activities, and (2) the lost-time accident frequency rate will be reduced. Variations in participative supervisory management of occupational safety and lost-time accident frequency rate are, therefore, the dependent variables in the study. A third hypothesis is that a greater use of safety participative management by supervisors should be related to a lower accident frequency rate. Figure 1 in the article illustrates this conceptual model and the hypotheses.MethodsThe study was conducted in five industrial firms located in the province of Quebec, Canada. These firms were selected from a larger sample, using a quota method, in order to include (1) different industrial sectors, (2) different firm sizes, (3) unionized and non-unionized firms, and (4)various geographical locations. In each firm, data were collected through (l)semi-structured interviews (n = 55) with supervisors, workers' representatives, top and middle managers, safety managers and members of the health and safety committee, and (2) questionnaires filled out by all supervisors (n = 63) and various other managers (n = 29).The development level of each change strategy (the independent variable) was measured using a scale (1-10) theoretically constructed by defining a total of ten dimensions referring to the three major change problems (resistance, control, and power and culture) that should be addressed and can be solved by consistent action steps during the change process. Data on actions taken, means and measures used by firms between 1988 and 1992 to encourage supervisors to use safety participative management, were collected and analyzed according to these ten dimensions.Variations in the use of participative safety management by supervisors (the dependent variable) were estimated (+/-) using data collected from various sources, including supervisors, about the evolution of the latter's management practices between 1988 and 1992. The last dependent variable, variation in the lost-time accident frequency rate, was measured by comparing the rates between the first and last year of a given strategy during the period under study. ResultsTable 2 presents the main results of the study. On the left side of the table, each of the ten strategies observed is identified, its level of development is indicated, and the number of dimensions for which action steps were taken is mentioned for each of the three major problems of the change process. On the right side, data is provided about dependent variables. Generally speaking, results largely support the hypotheses. More developed and systematic strategies (A-2, D-2, D-4, E, B, C-2) are all followed by an increase in the supervisors' use of participative safety management and a decrease in the accident frequency rate, while three out of the four less developed and systematic strategies (A-l, C-l, D-3) have inverse results.Discussion and ConclusionAlthough the results provide strong support for the hypotheses and confirm the results of previous studies about the positive impact of participative supervisory management on accident rates, the case studies also shows that non-effective strategies have had an important function in the social construction of effective strategies of organizational change. In brief, all non-effective strategies are characterized by an important unsolved problem of supervisors' and workers' resistance to the change in the safety practices expected by the organization. It appeared that this resistance is not only psychosocial, as generally conceptualized in the Systems theory of organizational change, but is also sociological in terms of a strategy used by supervisors and work teams to negotiate their place in the new "organizational order" which is constructed in the change process. Actually, this social process of "implicit bargaining" appears to be the main mechanism for the social construction of more effective strategies, that is, strategies addressing the resistance problem by developing change ownership by supervisors and workers, the power and culture problem by raising the top management commitment in the change process, and the structural support problem by adapting formal Systems of management in a manner consistent with the desired change.
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189.More information
ABSTRACTIn late twentieth-century Quebec society, the partnership between families and the schools is seen as both a social issue and a prerequisite to any form of change in the schools. By analyzing data from several studies conducted in France and Quebec on families from so-called "disadvantaged" milieux, this article attempts to distinguish two types of strategies implemented by Quebec schools as part of their educational role, and to then understand the practices of disadvantaged families by listing family survival strategies. It examines how school strategies and family survival strategies interact to assess the families' position in relation to the schools. The author suggests that this position is based on a rationale of exteriority, which is the only guarantee of the material and symbolic survival of the family as a group and of each member of this group.
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ERP is a major IT investment for SMEs, which can be considered as a strategic decision. The article tests how strategic priorities of SMEs influence their adoption of an ERP system. An investigation on 1977 firms shows that reactivity seeking is the only strategic positioning increasing the probability to adopt an ERP. Business strategies focused on the characteristics of the products have no influence. In addition, the investigation confirms that the size, the group membership and the IT maturity of SMEs lever ERP adoption.
Keywords: ERP, priorités stratégiques, PME, adoption, économétrie, ERP, strategic priorities SME, adoption, econometrics, ERP, prioridades estratégicas, adopción, econometria