Habilitation à diriger des recherches
Corbel, P., Vers une chaîne de valeur centrée sur le savoir ?, Summary of research work to defend the "habilitation à diriger des recherches" under the coordination of Professor P. Hermel, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, September 2006
Résumé :
This document presents a reflection on our research work, tracing its theoretical and epistemological foundations. The main common denominator is the omnipresence of knowledge. From the characteristics of the nuclear power industry, studied as part of the doctoral thesis, to intellectual property rights, competences (whether individual or organisational) and the constitution of 'dynamic capabilities' within companies and organisations, it is always a question of 'knowledge' in the broadest sense. This has led us to reflect in depth on the implications of knowledge-centred research into the strategic management of companies, which forms the basis of our first part, and then to establish a genuine synthesis framework to give new meaning to our work.
Although the current context is often described as a knowledge-based economy, strategic reasoning in terms of the value chain remains focused on physical transformation operations, leading to the manufacture of a product from components purchased from suppliers and delivery to customers. This leads us to propose reasoning in terms of a value chain centered on knowledge. We borrow the concept of an exploration-integration-exploitation cycle from J.P. Bréchet and A. Desreumaux [1] and transpose it to the company. These stages become the essential phases of a knowledge-based value chain. The support functions are also modified: the information system, human resources management, and the financial function are highlighted. Once the model has been formalised, it becomes clear that in our research, we have always been interested in the interactions between these different stages and with the support functions. This allows us to transform what could have been just one point on a body of work into a plan for the future, adding meaning to our future research.
[1] Bréchet, J.-P. and Desreumaux, A. (2002) « Sciences de gestion et pratiques de management – Le cas du management stratégique » in Réseau des IAE, Sciences de Gestion et Pratiques Managériales, Economica, pp. 7-22.