Coupling between scientific knowledge and usage values explorations: characterization of new modalities from the case of a company in communication technologies.

Summary A crucial issue in the management of technological innovation is that of coupling the exploration of the value associated with an innovation with the development of the scientific and technical knowledge necessary for the design of new objects, services or technological systems. Numerous studies have focused on this question, characterizing the principles of coupling or more concrete modalities. A great diversity of approaches and devices has been put forward by the literature, constituting answers that are often partial, due to the frequent focus on one type of coupling modalities, and sometimes contradictory as to the way to organize such a coupling. In the current context of competition through innovation, can we detect in the empirical practices of technology companies changes in relation to the coupling modalities already highlighted in the literature, combinations between several modalities, often analyzed in isolation, or the deployment of new approaches? How do these coupling mechanisms rely on individual and collective dynamics of competences? This is the project pursued in this work, which studies the case of a company in the communication technologies sector. This company has recently been experimenting with original and combinatorial modalities in response to this coupling issue, which is particularly critical in a highly evolving competitive environment.