Le rôle des filiales dans le processus de développement à l’international

Le présent article s’intéresse aux relations entre société-mère et filiale dans le cadre de l’internationalisation de l’entreprise, et avance l’idée du rôle possible de catalyseur de la filiale dans ce processus. L’étude qualitative d’un cas hybride d’internationalisation, par lequel une filiale, par sa créativité et son autonomie d’action, transcende son rôle et initie la maison-mère à des pratiques qui contribuent à faire passer cette dernière d’une condition d’internationalisation incrémentale à celle d’une firme quasi née globale, permet de poser l’hypothèse de l’existence de filiales « éducatives », capables de créer par elles-mêmes les conditions d’une internationalisation rapide et réussie pour la société-mère.This article focuses on the relationship between parent companies and subsidiaries, and introduces the idea of a possible catalyzing role of the subsidiary in the internationalization process. The qualitative study of a hybrid case of internationalization, in which a subsidiary, through its creativity and autonomy of action, transcends its role and educates its parent company in practices that contribute to the evolution of the latter from an incremental internationalization to the condition of a quasi born-global firm, allows for the hypothesis of the existence of “educative” subsidiaries, able to generate the conditions for rapid and successful internationalization of their parent company.El presente artículo se interesa por las relaciones entre la sociedad matriz y la filial en el marco de la internacionalización de la empresa, y apunta a la idea del posible rol de la filial como catalizador en este proceso. El estudio cualitativo de un caso híbrido de internacionalización, por el cual una filial, por su creatividad y autonomía de acción, trasciende su papel e inicia a la sociedad matriz en prácticas que contribuyen a que esta última pase de una condición de internacionalización incremental a la de una empresa de concepción global, permite plantear la hipótesis de la existencia de filiales “educativas”, capaces de crear por sí mismas las condiciones de una internacionalización rápida y lograda para la sociedad matriz

Clootie wells and water-kelpies : an ethnological approach to the fresh water traditions of sacred wells and supernatural horses in Scotland

This thesis examines different aspects of tradition relating to fresh water in Scotland. They include: the use of water from wells and springs for healing and divination purposes; the beliefs around the lin1inal quality of water, often considered as boundary, and around its magical association with the horse; and finally folktales featuring the water-horse, or kelpie, a supernatural creature which was said to inhabit lochs and rivers. In dealing with topics so different one from the other, within the larger field of Scottish customs and beliefs, it proved necessary to use a variety of sources and methods. Comparative study was often particularly illuminating. After presenting the history of visits to sacred wells, I deal with two main categories of customs associated with these pilgrimages, namely healing rituals and divination practices. While the former leads to the analysis of the different stages and implications of the ritual, the latter looks into the issues that were left to supernatural powers to decide upon, and examines how the questions asked of the oracle evolved with time. Consideration of these powers then leads on to further inquiry into the liminal function of fresh water in general, and its links with boundaries both spatial and temporal. That the horse, another element that is ascribed definite liminal qualities, was associated with water is therefore not fortuitous. If water provides an entry to an Other World, the horse can then take one through into this other land. Indeed, this is what is found in the corpus of tales centred on the figure of the waterhorse. As some of the tale-types are met in other geographical areas - Ireland and Scandinavia mainly - a discussion of these will provide a general background to the tales, which will result in a proposal for a revised tale-index. Two shared types -the work-horse and the abductor of children - will then be examined in the Scottish context. One type, however, - the seducer - seems to be unique to Scotland, and it will be dealt with last. The aim of this work is twofold: first, to provide an ethnological piece of research from a diachronic perspective on a subject outwith the usual themes generally chosen for studies of this nature; second, to present together, in their Scottish context, folktales that have been hitherto broken up and read in the light of their relationships to their foreign counterparts. Although recent academic studies on healing wells exist for Ireland and France, the Scottish material has never previously been treated in such a study. A number of sources available were secondary accounts, dating back mainly to the turn of the twentieth century, and part of my research involved finding the original documents used - sometimes misused - in order to present them in their original context. Similarly, part of the work on the kelpie stories involved gathering together tales kept in the Sound Archive of the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh that had never been collected into a single corpus. I hope in this thesis to provide a sound basis for further researches on these types of Scottish customs and beliefs

Kinase suppressor of Ras 1 is not required for the generation of regulatory and memory T cells

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase is a critical regulator of the differentiation of helper and regulatory CD4+ T cells, as well as memory CD8+ T cells. In this study, we investigated the role of the ERK signaling pathway in regulating mTOR activation in T cells. We showed that activation of ERK following TCR engagement is required for sustained mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) activation. Absence of kinase suppressor of Ras 1 (KSR1), a scaffold protein of the ERK signaling pathway, or inhibition of ERK resulted in decreased mTORC1 activity following T cell activation. However, KSR1-deficient mice displayed normal regulatory CD4+ T cell development, as well as normal memory CD8+ T cell responses to LCMV and Listeria monocytogenes infection. These data indicate that despite its role in mTORC1 activation, KSR1 is not required in vivo for mTOR-dependent T cell differentiation

Implementing children's participation at the community level: the practices of non-governmental organisations

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognised children’s human right to participate in decisions that affect them. Yet, twenty-five years after ratification, children’s participation remains frequently problematic in practice. This thesis examines the practice of NGOs that have been implementing children’s participation at the community level for more than ten years in two specific settings: Tamil Nadu (in south India) and Scotland (UK). The thesis is an explorative study; it examines the findings through two case studies (one in each country). Each case study involved observations/informal discussions and semi-structured interviews with children and staff members from the NGOs. Relevant documents were obtained and scrutinised. The analysis of the empirical data uses three concepts: competencies, child-adult relationships and influence to illuminate and analyse the implementation of children’s participation within the two case studies. Firstly, the empirical analysis highlights that children within children’s participation projects acquired knowledge and skills and then applied them in particular situations within the participation projects (personal and social competencies). Nevertheless, the two case studies showed that adults’ crucial role in legitimising children’s competencies can either facilitate or block children’s participation. Secondly, the child-staff/adults’ relationships were not enough to be considered as the hierarchy within the organisation’s social order was needed to be analysed to have ‘successful’ participation projects. Thirdly, Lundy (2007) provides a model for how adults can be more accountable to children and enhance children’s influence over decision-making in their communities, but some missing elements can undermine the extent to which children’s views are appropriately acted upon. Based on a modification of Lundy’s model, this thesis proposes a tripartite collaborative and intergenerational framework involving the relationships between children and adults in power facilitated by staff members. The thesis contributes to debates about children’s participation by arguing that implementing children’s participation requires a relational and contextual focus on collaboration and intergenerational dialogue. The thesis makes recommendations for practitioners and decision-makers on how to deploy Lundy’s modified perspective to implement children’s constructive participation at the local level

Programme PROPPAC : données des campagnes océanographiques : 2 : PROPPAC 03 (11 septembre - 11 octobre 1988) et PROPPAC 04 (30 octobre - 26 novembre 1989)

Ce recueil présente les données des deux dernières campagnes du programme PROPPAC qui se sont déroulées à bord du N.O. "Coriolis" en septembre 1988 pour PROPPAC 03 et sur le N.O. "Le Suroit" en novembre 1989 pour PROPPAC 04. Chacune d'elles a consisté, d'une part, en une radiale le long du méridien 165°E comportant des stations tous les degrés de latitude d'autre part en une ou deux stations en dérive de 8 jours. La position de départ de ces stations a été 165°E, 4°N pour PROPPAC 03, 165°E, 7°S et 165°E, 16°S pour PROPPAC 04. Au cours des campagnes PROPPAC, les mesures suivantes ont été effectuées : courantologie au profileur Aanderaa, température et salinité à la sonde CTD, concentrations d'oxygène dissous, sels nutritifs, matériel particulaire faites à partir de prélèvements à la rosette de bouteilles et, enfin, biomasse et composition du zooplancton. Lors des stations en dérive, les mesures de production primaire et secondaire ont été réalisées quotidiennement. (Résumé d'auteur

Rapport de la campagne PROPPAC 04 à bord du N.O. Le Suroît (30 octobre au 26 novembre 1989)

La campagne PROPPAC 4, dont l'ORSTOM était maître d'oeuvre, s'est déroulée du 30 octobre au 26 novembre 1989 entre 20°S (nord de la Nouvelle-Calédonie) et 5°S le long de 165°E. L'objectif était de décrire en deux points fixes de 8 jours la variabilité à court terme des paramètres hydrologiques et planctoniques, leur répartition le long de la colonne d'eau, la distribution des différentes classes d'organismes et de mesurer l'intensité des flux : advection et mélanges, taux de sédimentation, production primaire et secondaire. Ces informations, recueillies dans deux situations oligotrophes considérées comme typiques, doivent permettre de compléter les données rudimentaires de biologie qui sont collectées au cours des stations de courte durée des radiales bi-annuelles SURTROPAC depuis 1984 et servir à la définition de la relation production-hydrologie dans le Pacifique occidental. La première station de 8 jours, dont la position a été choisie à l'issue d'une radiale préliminaire, était située à 7-8°S et caractérisée par une pycnocline profonde (75 m) et marquée, avec un maximum de chlorophylle vers 80-100 m. La seconde, située à 16°S, correspondrait à une structure hydrologique avec un faible gradient et des sels nutritifs vers 140 m, le maximum de chlorophylle se situant à 120-140 m. (Résumé d'auteur