Philippe Eynaud

A narrative approach to publishing information systems research: inspiration from the French New Novel tradition

In this paper, we suggest an alternative way of producing Information Systems (IS) case studies in which researchers act as narrators of stories following the spirit and techniques of the French New Novel (FNN). As such, authors attempt to represent the richness of a problem situation. The readers’ role is more demanding compared to traditional case studies, as they have to play detectives to discover meaning from the narrative. Hence, readers need to expose different interpretations from the text rather than accept a complete story by the author or an author-provided set of alternative interpretations. Following a discussion of the FNN, we present an extract of a narrative that follows this approach. It concerns use of technology in team meetings in a research project on the potential impact of climate change on organic farming in France. Based on this example, we discuss the techniques used in its construction, ways in which the text might be interpreted, and how it may become part of publishing qualitative case study research within IS.

Toward a Reassessment of the Role of Rank-and-File Stakeholders in Nonprofit Organizations

This study examines the relationships between the influence of different stakeholders and mission-based strategic planning, community development, and economic effectiveness. Our purpose is to highlight the unique and incremental contribution of rank-and-file stakeholders, that is, stakeholders without any specific grade or status, such as nonboard volunteers or beneficiaries. We analyze reported data from 227 nonprofit organizations (NPOs) using structural equation modeling and bootstrap mediation analysis. Our results show that when rank-and-file stakeholders manage to remain influential, strategic planning tends to be more directly rooted in the mission, which contributes to both perceived community and economic effectiveness. These results are discussed with regard to the utility, legitimacy, and urgency of more direct forms of democratic governance giving rank-and-file stakeholders the power to contribute to mission-based strategic planning.

Apports et limites de la production du chiffre dans l’entreprise sociale : Une étude de cas autour de la mesure de l’impact social

Encouragees par le contexte institutionnel, les entreprises sociales utilisent de plus en plus le chiffre a des fins de pilotage, d’evaluation et de rationalisation de leur action. Une etude de cas comprehensive montre que le processus de production du chiffre depasse ces premiers attendus en ce qui concerne la mesure de l’impact social. L’etude met en effet en lumiere la place centrale du chiffre dans l’histoire de l’organisation, son role de marqueur identitaire, et son incidence sur la forme prise par l’entreprise sociale. a ce titre, elle souligne l’importance que celui-ci soit interroge de maniere reflexive par l’ensemble des parties prenantes dans le cadre d’une gouvernance participative ouverte.

Organizing Resisting Activities in On-line Social Spaces: Regulation, Communities, Materiality. The Case of a Citizen’s Movement Defending Undocumented Migrant Pupils

The formal and structural components of social movement organizations are rather elusive and scarce: their militants explicitly emphasize the egalitarian, horizontal, democratic and transparent way of making decisions and taking action. They also like to pride themselves on not being similar to any existing organizational form (Rao et al., 2000), and they often vow to disappear when their mission has been fulfilled. Moreover, in this day and age, most social movements resort to easy-to-use on-line technology, and their members become on-line users. The on-line nature of the organization has reinforced the trend toward lightweight formal organizational features in social movements, and the lack of formal rules. These flexible organizations are highly responsive and deliver fast mobilization. The quest for massive and far-reaching mobilization is a powerful strategy for advocacy and action but goes hand in hand with significant risks of losing control. Mission drift, push for more powerful governance structures, anarchic growth, controversies within the movement and the maintenance of pluralism among members are the main risks linked to an open social movement, where almost anyone can become a member through on-line registration to any existing e-mail list (Kavada, 2009). Yet, these self-proclaimed ‘no-rules’ organizations cannot thrive and stay true to themselves without rules, even if the latter are informal and invisible from the outside.