CIRCULAR CONTROL Taking a socio-organizational perspective for the study of the control process of strategic inter-firm relationships in the retail industry. ; Le contrôle circulaire Une approche socio-organisationnelle du contrôle des relations stratégiques inter-firmes dans le secteur de la grande distribution

This thesis studies the control process of contextualised inter-firm relationships between a French retail company and sixteen consumer goods producers. The inter-organizational cooperative practices under study officially aim at sustaining a new mode of management of these relationships called, the joint business plan. This approach is based upon the joint conception and monitoring of strategies established at a new level of analysis: the category of products. This research is interactive and sociologically oriented. The methodology is qualitative and aims at studying a system of practices in a context of action by subjecting ourselves to the set of contingencies that play upon the actors of the field. The methodology combines the participant observation by Erving Goffman and the use of the grounded theory for the emergence of an explanatory conceptual framework of the case. The thesis shows that the not-so-obvious development of these cooperative practices lies in the necessity for both parties, in a hypercompetitive environment, to permanently explore and experiment new ways of combining resources. These relational strategies are improvised ones and the circular control is a micro-social process sustaining the emergence of new possibilities of collective joint action. ; Cette thèse étudie le processus de contrôle des relations inter-firmes entre les équipes d'une enseigne de distribution française et celles de seize fournisseurs internationaux de produits de grande consommation. L'enjeu officiel des pratiques coopératives étudiées est de promouvoir un nouveau mode de gestion de ces relations inter-firmes : le plan d'affaires conjoint. Ce dernier vise à instaurer un pilotage conjoint d'une stratégie co-conçue à partir d'une maille d'analyse inédite : la catégorie de produits. Cette recherche est interactive et sociologiquement ancrée. La méthodologie employée est qualitative et vise à étudier un système de pratiques en contexte en s'assujettissant aux contingences de la vie organisationnelle ordinaire qui ...