March 2016
abstract
Gérer & Comprendre
Issue 123
Editorial
By Pascal LEFEBVRE
Editorialiste
OVERLOOKED…
Anatomy of a cyberattack against a firm: Understanding and preventing denial-of-service attacks
By Albert De Mereuil ,
consultant on economic intelligence
and Annabel-Mauve Bonnefous ,
associate professor in leadership and management, head of the People and Organizations Department, NEOMA Business School
Cyberattacks are a poorly known but quite real menace for firms, both public and private. The companies attacked experience colossal financial losses and untold damage to their reputation. How to prevent attacks? An in-depth analysis of 234 denial-of-service attacks between September 2011 and January 2015 sheds light on assailants’ profiles and motivations and on the types of companies that form their favorite targets. Several concrete actions are discussed for warding off cyberattacks; otherwise, firms risk being forced to manage the effects at a much higher cost.
The new auditor has come!
By Sébastien Rocher ,
professor in managerial science, Faculty of Law, Economics and Management at Angers
This analysis of a French novel presents the new image of audiditors in popular culture as “professionals of appearances”. It also proposes the reasons (related to the profession, its organization and sense of identity) why this profile has arisen in financial circles. In fact, what has emerged might well be a stereotype of auditors and a cultural representation of the world of auditing.
“Innovation is not a long quiet river” - A sociotechnical analysis of an innovation for the general public: automatic hiking sticks
By Julie HALLÉ
Chercheure associée, Université Lyon 1 (L-ViS)
Bénédicte VIGNAL
Maître de conférences, Université Lyon 1 (L-ViS)
and Bastien SOULÉ
Professeur des universités, Université Lyon 1 (L-ViS)
This ex post facto description of the development of an innovation in outdoor sporting goods for the general public - automatic hiking sticks (or trekking poles ) - comes out of a sociotechnical approach with the objective of analyzing phases in this process, as the product took various forms, underwent many influences and was shaped by compromises. For this study, fieldwork was conducted, and twelve semidirective interviews were carried out with persons in the network formed around this product. The major findings are that this process was not linear; it was slow; and novelty alone did not ensure the product’s diffusion and success.
TRIAL BY FACT
Stratification as a status order in academia: A Weberian proposition
By Sébastien Dubois ,
associate professor, NEOMA Business School, and associate researcher, Centre de Sociologie des Organisations, Sciences-Po
Increasing stratification in academia is analyzed with recourse to the concept of a status order. In Max Weber’s work, “status” refers to ranks in a social hierarchy based on prestige; and persons of the same rank tend to form a status group. Recent research has redefined “status” as a sign of quality for organizing groupings of actors. These two lines of research are crossed to identify the processes that divide academia into status groups and produce, despite the individual’s merits, structural inequality. This approach is grounded on an empirical study of Organization, a journal supported by a group of critical, “postmodern” academics with key members coming from the same universities (mostly English and, to a lesser extent, Australian and Scandinavian). free download
Levers of performance in a group strategy: An analysis of the wine industry in Val de Loire, Champagne and Languedoc-Roussillon
By Élodie Loubaresse ,
a ssociate professor in managerial science, University Paris-Sud;
and Florent Pestre ,
associate professor in managerial science, University Paris-Sud
Why do some collective strategies work better than others? After recalling the major factors in a group strategy’s effectiveness, three contrasting cases in the French wine industry are examined: Val de Loire, Champagne and Languedoc-Roussillon. Some of these factors are independent of the actions of the parties involved, but other levers of action can be used directly. The cases of Val de Loire and Champagne serve to identify the pitfalls to avoid when drawing up a group strategy and the conditions to meet for it to be effective. The case of Languedoc-Roussillon illustrates the overlapping of levels of analysis and the dynamic imparted by a group strategy.
OTHER TIMES, OTHER PLACES
The Rochette affair (1908-1914): Accountancy and a financial scandal
By Oussama Ouriemmi ,
associate professor, ISG International Business School, GrIIsG;
and Marie-Claire Loison ,
assistant professor, EMLYON Business School, Centre de Recherche OCE
The disclosure of a fraud orchestrated by Henri Rochette, one of the most powerful financiers in Paris, started a scandal. Rochette, once arrested, immediately reversed accusations and claimed that his enemies had hatched a plot. After investigations established that his arrest was arbitrary, the financial scandal became political and legal. The part of accountancy in this affair is examined to show its consequences on the evolution of bookkeeping standards.
Mosaics
Manage and innovate in services
On Marianne Abramovici, Sylvie Chevrier and Muriel Jougleux’s (eds.), Management des services. Conception, production et évaluation de la performance des services (Grenoble: Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, 2015)
By Damien Collard
What do algorithms dream about?
On Dominique Cardon’s, À quoi rêvent les algorithmes (Paris: Éditions du Seuil et la République des Idées, 2015)
By Paul Hallé
A teacher unveils the secrets of teaching
On Sylvie Cordesse Marot’s Enseigner le management par des situations-problèmes (Chronique Sociale, 2015)
By Michel Villette
The reconstituted state
On Patrick Le Galès et Nadège Vezinat, L’État recomposé (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2014)
By Jean-Marc Weller