Utilisation identitaire des dispositifs de contrôle par les membres d’un groupe professionnel : le cas des acheteurs

Abstract

Ce travail se propose de revisiter la recherche sur l’utilisation des dispositifs de contrôle dans les luttes entre professions en s’appuyant sur la théorie de l’identité sociale (Tajfel et Turner 1979, 1986). À l’aide de cette lecture identitaire des conflits intergroupes et d’une étude qualitative de terrain menée auprès d’acheteurs, ce travail met en valeur de nouvelles manières d’utiliser les dispositifs de contrôle dans les luttes entre professions. Il souligne notamment que l’utilisation des outils de contrôle dans les luttes interprofessionnelles ne se cantonne pas à l’insertion de nouveaux outils ou l’extension de dispositifs existants – qui modifient les pratiques organisationnelles – mais peut également revêtir des formes cognitive et sociocognitive – qui ne modifient pas les pratiques organisationnelles.

Analysis of the political and identity dynamics of a dominant mode of control: The case of business ethics control and its legalization

“…A professional group can be considered as a social subset of the firm, characterized by its own specific language, values and interpretive schemes (Dent, 1991;Goretzki & Messner, 2019;Sebti et al 2015). It is also associated with a specific area of expertise, corresponding to the knowledge possessed by the members of the group, for which they are acknowledged as experts (Ezzamel & Burns 2005;Farjaudon & Morales, 2013).…”

“…Tajfel and Turner (1986) use the example of the 1960s Black is beautiful movement, in which the attribute (skin colour) was still the same, but the connotation generally associated with Afro-Americans was reversed; -(c) selecting the groups to which the in-group will be compared, to exclude groups whose social status is too high. In a firm where marketing carries high status, buyers can compare themselves to a different group with lower social status, such as management controllers (Sebti et al, 2015). This approach, based on social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner 1979, 1986, can be used to analyse use of control systems in intergroup conflicts from a fresh angle (Sebti et al, 2015).…”

“…In a firm where marketing carries high status, buyers can compare themselves to a different group with lower social status, such as management controllers (Sebti et al, 2015). This approach, based on social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner 1979, 1986, can be used to analyse use of control systems in intergroup conflicts from a fresh angle (Sebti et al, 2015).…”

“…Tajfel and Turner present a purely socio-cognitive strategy used for this purpose: social creativity. This identity-based approach offers a fresh angle for interpreting the use of control systems in intergroup conflicts (Sebti, Gérard & Perray-Redslob, 2015). The article by Sebti and his colleagues (2015) is an interesting attempt to bring this approach to intergroup conflicts into the control literature, but there is little research exploring the influence of identity enhancement strategies on the nature of the dominant mode of organizational control.…”

The Role of the Management Accountant

“…The literature, for example, has demonstrated their connections with marketing (Farjaudon, 2007;Farjaudon and Morales, 2013), purchasing (Sebti et al, 2015), quality (Demaret, 2014), and R&D (Morales, 2009). But the most significant connection is their relationship with the accounting departments.…”