This volume continues to build on the relationship between the Research in Management Consulting series and the intervener-researchers at the Socio-Economic Institute for Firms and Organizations (ISEOR) in Ecully, France, extending that partnership to our recent work with the French Foundation for Management Education (FNEGE), a foundation dedicated to closing the gap between the teaching and practice of management in France. As part of the Foundation’s multifaceted activities—which range from seminars and an advanced training initiative for French doctoral students to joint programs with international organizations an associations—FNEGE partnered with ISEOR to sponsor a series of workshops on developing high quality intervention-research. This volume is one of the results from that endeavor. Although intervention-research helps to uncover valuable insight into organizational dynamics and performance, the challenge of capturing and disseminating that insight to both academics and practitioners is entrenched in the rigor-relevance debate. While we are witnessing increased calls for “actionable knowledge,” this ideal, unfortunately, remains a rather elusive concept as critics contend either that rigorous academic research falls well-short of relevance to the practitioner world or research that proves to be valuable to practitioners falls short of the rigor expected in academic life. This volume is intended to help bridge that divide. Drawing on the FNEGE-ISEOR intervention-research workshop, the volume contains 18 chapters that explore the intervention-research process, from initial conceptualization, to implementation, to publication. The volume will be published in French and English

La formation en santé et sécurité au travail revient sur le devant de la scène. Ce livre rédigé par un collectif international et interdisciplinaire expose les multiples facettes du projet d'une formation pour les acteurs des milieux de travail et ses évolutions depuis une cinquantaine d'années dans plusieurs pays : en Europe, au Québec et en Amérique latine. Les principes et les pratiques de cette « formation à/par l'analyse critique du travail, pour/par l'action » fondent un processus formatif réciproque (entre « formateurs » et « formés ») visant le partage des savoirs et la construction conjointe de connaissances utiles aux changements du travail. Des réflexions et des expériences inédites valorisant le rôle dynamique de l'analyse du travail montrent qu'une telle démarche concerne également la formation professionnelle. Diverses pistes d'évaluation de ces interventions articulant formation, action et recherche sont discutées. Emergent alors des suggestions pour une formation renouvelée des futurs ergonomes et autres spécialistes de la santé au travail. La circulation, historique et géographique, de savoirs et d'outils est un autre fil rouge de cet ouvrage qui offre, dans un DVD joint, la version originale de nombreux documents (vidéo, audio et textes) . Le livre est introduit par Laurent Vogel (ETUI-CES, Bruxelles) et préfacé par Sylvie Montreuil (Université Laval, Québec). Les auteurs sont syndicalistes , délégués en santé, sécurité et conditions de travail , préventeurs, responsables en entreprise, chercheurs et intervenants en ergonomie, en psychologie du travail, en sociologie , en sciences de la gestion et en philosophie.

This progressive -volume introduces the concept of smart power in management, bringing contemporary humanistic values to the power dynamics of organizations and businesses. The chapters review sociopolitical, economic, and technological conditions fueling the recent shift in ideas about power in management, from the globalization of business to young workers’ motivation regarding their jobs and careers. Contributors examine a range of models, processes, and frameworks for planning and implementing smart power across diverse organizations, with accompanying challenges and caveats. In its theory and examples, the book makes a cogent case for the shift from traditional hard power, with its winner takes all culture and potential for abuses, to a more creative and democratic model. Included in the coverage: · The power of change and the need to change power: changing perception of power in the organizational setting. · The dynamics of Information and Communication Technologies and smart power: implications for managerial practice. · Economic growth, management, and smart power. · New Ways of Working: from smart to shared power. · Positive psychological capital: from strengths to power. · Narcissistic leadership in organizations: a two-edged sword. Redefining management : Smart power perspectives is proactive reading for students in professional and business-related academic fields (e.g., organizational behavior, sociology, and business and management), and for managers at all organizational levels. The book is a harbinger of transformative possibilities shaping the management landscape to come.

This collection of essays focuses on the important, but under-discussed, role of higher education institutions in both delivering academic programmes that provide relevant cognitive and professional skills and competences to future adult educators, and in being more actively involved in the current dialogue with regard to the professionalization paths of adult educators and trainers. The topics discussed here vary from the initial education and training of adult educators in higher education environments, to the role of universities as validating agencies of existing psycho-pedagogical competences for in-service adult educators. Particular attention is also drawn to the ways in which adult education policies and initial education and training opportunities for prospective adult educators affect the role of higher education institutions in terms of academic orientation and programme delivery.

Cameroon has strong goals for its growth and development. By 2035, it aims to be an emerging economy. The country s medium-term goals are focused on alleviating poverty, consolidating democracy, and achieving national unity while respecting diversity. This report contributes substantively to the Government s vision on Strategy for Growth and Employment, putting human development and employment at center stage. Cameroon faces three main challenges: Developing more robust formal and informal employment opportunities by strengthening human development. Increasing productivity in agriculture, mining, and key value chains (timber, tourism, and information and communication technology). Advancing growth by investing in infrastructure and improving the business climate and regional integration. The Strategy sets a target for reducing underemployment from 76 percent of the workforce to 50 by 2020 by creating tens of thousands of formal jobs. But based on results from the first two years of its implementation, the strategy is far from achieving that target. This report is meant to support Cameroon s efforts to build the skills of its workers. This report reaches conclusions and offers policy recommendations to answer six questions: What has been the trajectory of Cameroon s economic growth? Which sectors have contributed to growth? What jobs are being created? What types of skills are being used in the sectors where the highest percentages of the population are employed? What are the demand and supply barriers to skills? Which policies and institutions are in play? Are they sufficient? What needs to or could be reformed? Cameroon has good prospects for moving to middle-income status. It can create a more dynamic, responsive workforce. But a new strategy is required. It can be done.This report proposes new directions and provides recommendations. Outcomes are expected. Work has never been easy. But many have been working and Cameroon can work."

The volume begins with a chapter by Henri Savall, founder and director of the ISEOR Institute and creator of the SEAM methodology, that presents an overview of the development of the socio-economic approach to management, and its guiding frameworks and methodology. The chapter s detailed explanation of the underlying thinking, tools, and techniques of socio-economic management serves as the primer for the remainder of the volume. The book is then divided into three sections. The first part presents illustrations of SEAM interventions in different types of organizations, including industrial and service companies, and not-for-profit organizations, including cultural institutions and sports clubs. The next section looks at cross-cultural applications and assessments of SEAM experiments in Africa, Asia, Mexico, and the United States, with a concluding chapter on intervening in multinational corporations in general. The volume concludes with a section that examines different issues and challenges in SEAM intervention, ranging from the impact on and role of middle managers in the SEAM process, intervening in small organizations, SEAM s facilitative role in operationalizing and institutionalizing information technology, conceptualizing, and implementing organizational change, facilitating merger and acquisition integration, and the application of socio-economic management in sales and marketing. The book also contains a combined glossary and chapter index that provides a definition of key terms and concepts in the SEAM methodology and where they appear in the volume. These key terms are highlighted in bold italics throughout the volume, illustrating their application in different contexts.