AGRH 2009
Corbel, P. and Chevreuil, S. « Les fonctions de gestion des ressources humaines du brevet : une étude exploratoire », Proceedings of the 20th AGRH (Association francophone de Gestion des Ressources Humaines) Conference, Toulouse, September 2009
Abstract:
The application of human resources management tools to R&D activities has given rise to a number of studies, albeit relatively few in relation to the body of knowledge in HRM on the one hand and R&D management on the other. We propose here to explore the use of an R&D tool, the patent, for human resource management purposes, and in particular for motivation. Interest in such a problem arose inductively, through an initial empirical study of IP practitioners, some of whom mentioned this role, which until then had been little studied, and not in depth.
This paper is based primarily on an in-depth case study conducted at Peugeot-Citroën Automobiles. Based mainly on semi-directive interviews with engineers, technicians and line managers in the design offices (supplemented by a documentary analysis, a questionnaire survey and half a day of participant observation), the study enabled us to analyse the links that could be made between these two concepts, which are a priori far apart. It turns out that, under certain conditions, the patent can have an influence on self-esteem, in addition to the external motivation provided by the associated reward system (bonuses, competitions, etc.). This impact on motivation can be extended to involvement, thanks in particular to the congruence between the discourse and the management system and, in the case of PCA, to the margins of autonomy that the patent makes it possible to obtain, as the patent application process is outside the hierarchical line. This obviously has a certain number of implications: once this type of variable has been included, it will be a question of balancing the sometimes complementary, sometimes antagonistic aims, both in terms of certain purely HR dimensions and because of the interaction with the other (main) aims of patenting. Finally, we conclude this article with a reflection on the potential roles of patenting beyond the motivation/involvement dimensions alone.