Approche pragmatiste de la situation de projet: Etude du processus d'enquete et des logiques d'action en management de projet

Faced with widely documented cases of project failure, the international research community in project management has increasingly recognized the importance of questioning and investigating the practice. In fact, the literature on project failure is an alarming testimony of a knowledge crisis in the field, a crisis that calls for us to not only re-examine the complex relationships between theories of project management and what goes on in practice, but to rethink our concepts of both the practice of project management and project management research.;We propose to examine project management through the very practices by which projects are produced. The objective is to explore what project actors do as they interact during project conduct, and to gain a deeper understanding of what occurs in these interactions. We attempt to formulate a new perception of project management practice by describing how actors actually think and act in project situations.;The author takes an epistemological and methodological stance of project-grounded research and employs grounded theory as the main analytical strategy. To establish a rigorous theoretical framework, reference is made to practical philosophy, the rhetoric of Chaim Pereleman, and Donald Schon's pragmatist view of design practice. Through this research strategy and specific theoretical framework, we illustrate various sets of practices that guide the inquiry process in project management. Furthermore, we show the bidirectional nature of this process: while descriptive practices support the proposals that define the project situation, design practices, as expressed through discourse, convey the actors' intentions to act. In other words, design practices follow logics of action---logics whereby actors assume the right to intervene and initiate actions in order to transform situations. Five distinct logics of action and how they manifest in project situations are presented.;This thesis aspires to spur new, more imaginative forms of discussion during project conduct. The hope is that new interactions will emerge to improve project management practice. The project actor is considered here as a phronimos, or a practically wise, sensible person who can scope out increasingly complex project situations, where values must be considered in light of critical issues for organizations, communities, and the general public. Ultimately, it is proposed that project management research can be a vehicle for the development of a reflective attitude that is needed to advance the professional practice. The interest that drives this research approach and the theorization that accompanies it lies in the fact that it aims to free the professional act of poiesis and instil it with praxis.;Keywords: Project management, pragmatism, rhetoric, design, project situation, inquiry process, logics of action, reflective practice...