Controls of knowledge production, sharing and use in bureaucratized Professional Service Firms

One of the main obstacles to the current bureaucratization trend in large professional service firms (PSFs) is the organic nature of professional knowledge production, sharing and use. Centralized knowledge management (KM) systems aimed at codifying ‘best practice’ solutions to recurrent client questions for large-scale reuse are a common strategy increasingly employed to overcome this obstacle. Using a socio-ethnographic case study of a business law firm in Paris, this research examines whether the use of centralized KM systems in bureaucratized PSFs contributes to a shift in power from professionals to managers. More specifically, are administrative controls over knowledge resources increasing, or do professionals retain power (i.e. some level of social and self-control) over knowledge production, sharing and use? The results of this study indicate that, far from losing ground, professionals’ social and self-controls have been reinvented and reformed in a bureaucratized context

Texturation de YBa2_2Cu3_3O7−x_{7-x} par la méthode de l'échangeur thermique

The Heat Exchanger Method (HEM) has been used to prepare bulk textured YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ ceramics. The experimental process and the thermal parameters used for texturing are described. The resulting bulk textured ceramics have been investigated by X-ray diffraction, optical and scanning electronic microscopies. A 92 K temperature transition and a $J_c$ of 5 000 A/cm$^2$ at 77 K in the absence of magnetic field have been shown by ac susceptibility measurements.Un dispositif de croissance cristalline basé sur la technique de l'échangeur thermique a été développé au laboratoire. Cette méthode a été appliquée à l'obtention de céramiques orientées de YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$. Les conditions expérimentales ainsi que les différents paramètres thermiques afférents à la méthode de texturation utilisée sont précisés. La texturation des échantillons obtenus a été caractérisée par diffraction des rayons X, par microscopie optique et par microscopie électronique à balayage ; la susceptibilité alternative a révélé une transition supraconductrice à 92 K et une densité de courant critique de 5 000 A/cm$^2$ à 77 K et sans champ magnétique

Partial phase diagram of the ternary reciprocal system KF-AlF3-Al2O3-K2O

International audienceA K2ZrF6 treatment improves the wettability of SiC (or C) fibers by aluminum alloys. A possible mechanism involves the formation of K3AlF6 followed by the dissolution of the alumina film. DTA analyses of K3AlF6-α-Al2O3 mixtures show that a temperature invariant transition occurs at 1132K, the solid containing trace amounts of KAlF4 and β-alumina at room temperature. Part of the ternary reciprocal system KF-AlF3-Al2O3-K2O is calculated, the Gibbs free energy of the liquid being described according to the CIS theory. The K3AlF6-Al2O3 isopteth section is given. It is characterized by a liquidus with a deep minimum at 1132K and 11.6 wt % alumina