Crowdsourcing as a way to access external knowledge for innovation

This paper focuses on “crowdsourcing” as a significant trend in the new paradigm of open innovation (Chesbrough 2006; Chesbrough & Appleyard 2007). Crowdsourcing conveys the idea of opening the R&D processes to “the crowd” through a web 2.0 infrastructure. Based on two cases studies of crowdsourcing webstartups (Wilogo and CrowdSpirit), the paper aims to build a framework to characterize and interpret the tension between value creation by a community and value capture by a private economic actor. Contributing to the discussions on “hybrid organizational forms” in organizational studies (Bruce & Jordan 2007), the analysis examines how theses new models combine various forms of relationships and exchanges (market or non market). It describes how crowdsourcing conveys new patterns of control, incentives and co-ordination mechanisms.communauté ; crowdsourcing ; innovation ; formes organisationnelles hybrides ; plateforme ; web 2.0

Entre les vivants et les morts, les pompes funèbres aux portes du marché

Article repris dans Problèmes économiques, n°2.695, janvier 2001, Paris, La Documentation Française et dans « Echo des recherches », Sciences Humaines, avril 2001.National audienceIn the 1970s, a funeral market emerged in France as the communal monopolies dating from a 1904 law were eroded. Studying this emerging marketplace sheds light on a merchandising process in this branch of the economy. This process has unfolded against the backdrop of a change in geography (the places where people die) and a change in the symbolic relation to death. It has entailed: designing funeral services in place of rituals; reworking the ‘mediations' that institute economic transactions between market segments of living clients, on the one hand, and, on the other, businesses of different sizes that provide various products and services; working out new arrangements for winning clients (products, services, package deals, etc.); and developing new business qualifications. Deeply anchored in the realm of symbols, the funeral business must handle two anthropological aspects of exchanges (the market and symbolic ones) that are structurally antagonistic but that its economic organisation cannot abolish. This inquiry focuses on how symbolic issues limit the activities of these businesses, in particular by forcing them to reconcile competition over prices (the very basis of the marketing dimension) and discretion about prices (itself required by the symbolic prohibition against reducing clients to mere customers.)En étudiant la création d'un marché des pompes funèbres1 en France, né de la suppression des monopoles communaux, les auteurs nous donnent à voir un processus de marchandisation : construction d'une prestation en lieu et place des rituels, recomposition des médiations qui instituent l'échange économique, construction de nouveaux dispositifs et compétences d'échange. Profondément ancré dans la sphère du symbolique, le secteur doit cependant conjuguer deux registres anthropologiques de l'échange, marchand et symbolique, structurellement antagonistes, que ne peut abolir son organisation économique. Les auteurs s'interrogent sur la façon dont l'enjeu symbolique conditionne l'activité des acteurs économique

A bord du Georges Leygues : interactions de recherche

International audienceThis study of social relations aboard a French warship focuses on how sailors and sociologists interacted through a confrontation between, and mutual learning of, radically different categories of thought and forms of action. These negotiations about the controversial presence of researchers sometimes made it quite hard for the latter to be free to move about in a closed, compartmentalized space where each place is subject to tightly defined rules about its formal and informal uses, where social stratification is based on ranks, and where the bounds between private and public places and between work and nonwork shift about. The disappointment following the circulation of a preliminary written report, which was submitted to the crew's criticism, illustrates the difficulties of feedback. It also shows how proposed interpretations can both lie at the center of bitter arguments aimed at using them for the causes defended by certain social groups and set off reactions that are useful for researchers by, for example, placing actors in a position where they can critically look at their own social relations and practices. By enabling researchers to validate, rectify and improve their statements and interpretations, the crew became full-fledged actors in producing sociologyBasé sur une étude du fonctionnement social d'un navire de guerre de la Marine nationale française, cet article porte sur la manière dont marins et chercheurs construisent conjointement des modalités d'échange, à partir de la confrontation et de l'apprentissage mutuel de catégories de pensée et de formes d'action radicalement différentes. Les auteurs attirent l'attention sur la négociation d'une présence controversée, que rend parfois particulièrement difficile la liberté de mouvement des chercheurs dans un espace à la fois clos et très compartimenté, notamment fait de lieux où les frontières entre privé et public et entre travail et hors travail sont mouvantes. Ils montrent aussi que la discussion avec les intéressés des interprétations produites peut être à la fois un moment d'appropriation polémique et l'occasion pour les acteurs d'exercer un regard critique sur leurs propres appartenances et pratiques. En permettant aux chercheurs de valider, de rectifier et d'enrichir leurs interprétations, les membres de l'équipage deviennent des acteurs à part entière de la production sociologiqu

De la compétence de service aux compétences de coordination et d’orchestration : Autour du conseiller funéraire

Partir à la découverte du « conseiller funéraire », personnage emblématique de la profession de pompes funèbres, nous donne accès aux principaux registres de compétence des opérateurs funéraires, tout au long d’une prestation de service qui conjugue traitement du corps, service public et ritualité funéraire. Maître d’œuvre des obsèques, le conseiller se découvre historiquement comme une figure à géométrie variable, évoluant d’une fonction de personnage public, au cœur des réseaux notables et religieux de la communauté locale, à celle de conseiller technico-commercial, cependant de plus en plus investi d’un rôle « d’officiant » dans la production des funérailles comme bien culturel et symbolique. Cet article s’intéresse à la manière dont les compétences du conseiller funéraire sont mises en œuvre à travers trois principaux registres de compétence : la gestion de l’interaction avec le client, la coordination interprofessionnelle et enfin « l’orchestration » de l’événement et du sacré dans le déroulement des opérations funéraires. L’analyse de l’activité funéraire révèle des propriétés essentielles des compétences de service.In describing the funeral director, who is the symbol of funeral services, we gain access to the main skill registries of funeral operators during the entire provision of services, which include: the handling of the deceased, the public service, and the funeral ritual. As the individual who manages the funeral, the funeral director historically is a person with variable geometry, evolving from a public persona within the local community’s important religious networks to that of a technical and commercial consultant, but increasingly invested with the role of "officiant" in the production of funerals as cultural and symbolic property. This article is interested in how the funeral director’s skills are applied through three main skill registries: management of the interaction with the client, interprofessional coordination, and finally the "orchestration" of the event and the sacred aspect in conducting the funeral operations. Analysis of the funeral activity revealed essential characteristics of service competencies.Partir al descubrimiento del « consejero fúnebre », personaje emblemático de la profesión de pompas fúnebres, nos da acceso a los principales registros de competencia de los operadores funerarios, a lo largo de una prestación de servicio que conjuga tratamiento del cuerpo, servicio público y ritualidad funeraria. Artífice de las exequias, el consejero se descubre históricamente como una figura de geometría variable, que evoluciona de una función de personaje público, situado en el corazón de las redes de personajes notables y religiosos de la comunidad local, a la función de consejero técnico-comercial, que sin embargo se ve cada vez más investido de un rol de « oficiante » en la producción de los funerales como bien cultural y simbólico. Este artículo trata la manera en que las competencias del consejero fúnebre son aplicadas por medio de los tres principales registros de competencia : la gestión de la interacción con el cliente, la coordinación inter-profesional y, finalmente, la « orquestación » del evento y de lo sagrado en el desarrollo de las pompas fúnebres. El análisis de la actividad funeraria revela propiedades esenciales de las competencias de servicio

Diario oficial del Ministerio de Marina: Año XLIII Número 224 - 1950 octubre 2

International audienc

Régulation sociale et action collective pour l'emploi en France

L'apparition récente, dans le paysage institutionnel français, d'accords d'entreprise sur l'emploi conduit l'analyste à s'interroger sur la nature du processus aboutissant à de tels compromis sociaux (s'agit-il d'un processus d'échange ?), sur les produits de cette activité (comment caractériser ce type d'accords collectifs ? Où réside la novation ?) et, enfin, sur le sens de ces compromis (en termes de légitimité comme en termes d'action collective pour l'emploi). En mobilisant une sociologie attentive aux processus, cet article explore cette nouvelle dynamique de négociation. On s'attachera à la comprendre comme une forme étendue de régulation conjointe, érigeant l'entreprise comme espace pertinent d'expérimentation de nouvelles pratiques contractuelles et dans laquelle le jeu et les arrangements des acteurs locaux occupent une place centrale.The evolution of collective bargaining in France since the mid-1990s reveals major transformations in the French System of industrial relations. Remarkable progress in firm-level bargaining has accompanied the proliferation of agreements on employment, which have become a major concern for social partners. These agreements, which link the quantitative management (job creation and social programs, managing fluctuations in both internal and external markets) with the qualitative management of employment (work time management, organization, skills management), are associated with the emergence of a new social compromise, based on the trade-off between employment and multiple forms of flexibility. The French context is traditionally organized along industry lines and characterized by highconflict situations in which actors rebel against local compromises and contractual arrangements. These shifts in the actors' strategies reflect, therefore, a considerable innovation which is examined in this article. Is this change related to new economic imbalance in contractual relations resulting from the decline of workers' power? Or does the employment crisis foster the development of new negotiating practices through which the social partners can explore other levels of action ?Based on a French-Quebec comparative study, this article examines the reconfiguration of social relations in France, drawing on the analysis of employment agreements and observation of real negotiating practices in firms. Our analysis has three main components: (1) examination of the characteristics of these kinds of agreements and their specificity with regard to traditional agreements; (2) examination of the process which leads to these social compromises and its impact in terms of social regulation; (3) understanding the process of mobilization and legitimation through which union actors make sense of these new practices. The firm-level collective agreements on employment are an expression of a series of practical and symbolic shifts in collective bargaining. They are the result of decentralized confrontation/concertation which are closest to local realities; they reflect greater interdependence among social partners in regulating production activity; and they are evolving toward more contractual arrangements. In the French cultural context, the state's influence plays a significant role in this reorientation of collective bargaining practices by legislating measures which encourage and then compel the parties to negotiate about local reorganization of work time. A content analysis of these negotiations supports the hypothesis of a "recodifying of the employment relationship" characterized first by an extension of contractual relations. The issue and exercise of "joint regulation" — in the sense proposee by A. Fox and put into theoretical terms by J.D. Reynaud — focus on the workplaces themselves, inciting union actors to break the "management taboo" in order to turn the productive order into a "negotiated order." The result of this type of negotiation can be defined as the joint elaboration of local legal regulations which link the management of production to the management of the internal labour market. While not ruling out the risk of a power imbalance in which employment bargaining can be a pretext for supporting the introduction of multiple forms of flexibility, the authors highlight the need to be sensitive to the leaming effects associated with this new negotiating dynamic. It gives social partners the opportunity to experiment with new roles within the firm, which then becomes a more political place in which social debate is conducted.The second part of the article addresses the question of the legitimation of these kinds of agreements when they are not directly associated with improvement, to the point of sometimes being equivalent to agreements to "manage sacrifices." Here, the analysis focuses on the way in which the social and symbolic mobilization for employment by union actors is carried out. In particular, it considers the problems encountered by the signatory unions in legitimating their position vis-a-vis their membership. The challenge here is how to reinsert the meaning of their action into the traditional or pertinent symbolic spheres of union action. The rhetoric of solidanty does not have a real significance unless it is embedded in the communities to which workers belong (firm, local area, professional community, etc.). To mobilize workers, the "defence of employment" must be oriented toward a victory, the inverse of a logic of sacrifice which offers much less mobilizing potential. In this way, it is able to re-establish the traditional meaning of union action. Although, for the time being, union leaders are succeeding in constructing the collective meaning of action for employment, the problem of union representation and legitimacy will continue to exist beyond the agreement. As standard bearers for a logic of flexibility and differentiation within work communities, the employment agreements also contribute to the growth of divergent interests and perceptions among the different categories of workers, making it all the more difficult in the end to aggregate and organize interests in such actions.La apariciòn reciente, en el paisaje institucional francés, de acuerdos de empresa sobre el empleo lleva al analista a interrogarse sobre la naturaleza del proceso que termina con taies compromisos sociales (se trata de un proceso de intercambio ?), sobre los productos de esta actividad (como caracterizar este tipo de acuerdos colectivos ? Donde se encuentra la motivaciòn ?) y finalmente, sobre el sentido de estos compromisos (en términos de legitimidad como en términos de acciòn colectiva por el empleo). Al movilizar una sociologìa preocupada por el proceso. Este articulo explora esta nueva dinâmica de negociaciòn. Trataremos de comprenderla como una forma extendida de la regulaciòn conjunta, constituyendo a la empresa como espacio propicio a la experimentaciòn de nuevas practicas contractuales y en la cual los juegos y los arreglos son actores locales ocupando un lugar central

Systemic Toll-Like Receptor Stimulation Suppresses Experimental Allergic Asthma and Autoimmune Diabetes in NOD Mice

BackgroundInfections may be associated with exacerbation of allergic and autoimmune diseases. Paradoxically, epidemiological and experimental data have shown that some microorganisms can also prevent these pathologies. This observation is at the origin of the hygiene hypothesis according to which the decline of infections in western countries is at the origin of the increased incidence of both Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases and Th2-mediated allergic diseases over the last decades. We have tested whether Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation can recapitulate the protective effect of infectious agents on allergy and autoimmunity. Methods and Findings Here, we performed a systematic study of the disease-modifying effects of a set of natural or synthetic TLR agonists using two experimental models, ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma and spontaneous autoimmune diabetes, presenting the same genetic background of the non obese diabetic mouse (NOD) that is highly susceptible to both pathologies. In the same models, we also investigated the effect of probiotics. Additionally, we examined the effect of the genetic invalidation of MyD88 on the development of allergic asthma and spontaneous diabetes. We demonstrate that multiple TLR agonists prevent from both allergy and autoimmunity when administered parenterally. Probiotics which stimulate TLRs also protect from these two diseases. The physiological relevance of these findings is further suggested by the major acceleration of OVA-induced asthma in MyD88 invalidated mice. Our results strongly indicate that the TLR-mediated effects involve immunoregulatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and different subsets of regulatory T cells, notably CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ T cells for TLR4 agonists and NKT cells for TLR3 agonists. Conclusions/Significance These observations demonstrate that systemic administration of TLR ligands can suppress both allergic and autoimmune responses. They provide a plausible explanation for the hygiene hypothesis. They also open new therapeutic perspectives for the prevention of these pathologies

Au royaume du marché funéraire: La mort réenchantée

National audienceCet article s'intéresse au rôle des pompes funèbres dans la production des formes de socialisation de la mort. Il montre la façon dont, historiquement, ces professionnels ont pris une place à part entière parmi les acteurs du traitement social de la mort, initialement à travers l'habillage du cortège et des manifestations publiques autour du défunt, aujourd'hui avec de nouvelles offres de service dans le traitement du corps. Il examine la façon dont les pompes funèbres participent aujourd'hui de façon à part entière à l'émergence de définitions sociales de la « bonne mort

Political Devices behind the formation of the market.: The case of the funeral market in France

International audienceHow does a market form for the supply of services initially provided by social and extra-economic institutions? Using the case of the history of the funeral market in France, this paper draws upon pragmatic approaches to analyse how the market formed in the course of the 19th century. It examines the interaction between market and non-market stakeholders - Church, State and entrepreneurs (the first private funeral businesses) - in shaping the basic "socio-technical arrangements" (Callon 2007) at the root of the development of the funeral business. In the context of this non-legitimate market, the analysis will show how market devices incorporate "calculation formulae" which convey a substantial political dimension. I suggest that this form of political calculation, as an institutional compromise slotted into a price-setting mechanism, was decisive for the emerging colonisation of private business into the public management of death. Beyond this, understanding the formation of the market requires to take into account the continual reinvention of this "set of framing" through the course of the economic and political interaction. I suggest that this movement spread out at two levels: on the one hand, the entrepreneur's skill in making most of the profit from the calculation formulae ; on the other hand, the peripheral actors' attempt, as they were excluded from this primary hybrid form of funeral organization (public-private), to intrude into the organization to develop competition at the margins

: A bord de la frégate Montcalm

National audienceAboard Montcalm ship, the authors analyzed the changes inferred by feminization on the social life, the work organization and the seaman occupation. They observe a good integration of women on board, with the social validation of their skills and aptitude to the seaman profession and the military activity. Nonetheless, masculine identity remains at the core of the social identification of the group. In other words, while the seaman work is fewer associated to virile skills, the masculine model remains the main referential of this occupation... even for womenA bord de la frégate Montcalm, les auteurs ont analysé les changements induits par la féminisation sur les modes de vie et de travail à bord, ainsi que sur le milieu professionnel des marins. Les chercheurs constatent que l'intégration professionnelle des femmes a réussi, notamment à travers la reconnaissance de leurs compétences et de leur capacité à assumer les contraintes du métier militaire et de la profession de marin. Pour autant, conclue l'étude, l'avènement de la “ femme militaire ” ou de la “ femme marin ” n'a pas réellement lieu : l'identité masculine est restée au cœur de la représentation identitaire du groupe. Autrement dit, alors que l'activité du marin est de moins en moins associée à l'expression de qualité viriles, le modèle masculin demeure toujours le référentiel fort et constant... y compris pour les femme