Articuler la théorie de la régulation sociale et l'approche conventionnaliste en gestion pour comprendre l'échec d'un projet de changement organisationnel ?

The introduction of change projects poses many challenges for human resources management ; which are often portrayed as many opportunities to modernize organisations, or as many management recipes to implement in order to manage change successfully. This article presents the case of the introduction of a new form of organization of work, home-based teleworking, and invites to consider both the re-regulation of rules – especially rules of control, and beliefs about what it is normal to expect from workers experiencing despatialization. Theories of social regulation and conventions are presented in their similarities and differences. We propose to articulate them in order to simultaneously consider the beliefs shared by the actors a priori as a necessary condition for the adoption of new rules, and the negotiation process by which actors produce and organize the new rules (if any) associated to the project and its practice. In order to illustrate this theoretical proposition, two case studies are presented. One questions the failure of the introduction of telework in one public administration, while the second questions the success of a similar project. Finally, our article takes part to an interdisciplinary enterprise aiming at deepening our understanding of organisations and, especially, change situations, in management, through borrowing to other social sciences.