Alternative Forms of Markets and Organizations
The Alternative Forms of Markets and Organizations (AFMO) research group brings together researchers to investigate four key topics: social and environmental innovations / alternative forms of organizations / the crafting of organizations / the production and consumption of management knowledge.
Updated on 23/09/2026
Alternative Forms of Markets and Organizations
The AFMO team explores alternative organizations (social enterprises, cooperatives, hybrid structures), their origins, and their social impacts. It analyzes social innovations and emerging models to understand how these organizations are transforming work, markets, and value creation. Our multidisciplinary approach (psychology, sociology, economics, law, anthropology, etc.) offers a variety of perspectives for nuanced critical analyses. AFMO examines discourses on responsibility and transition and highlights more inclusive and resilient forms of organization.
Introduction to the AFMO Research Team
The AFMO team studies alternative organizations and social innovations to understand how they bring about lasting change in work, markets, and value creation.
The AFMO team—Alternative Forms of Markets and Organizations—conducts management research on social and environmental innovations, alternative organizations, and the development of managerial practices. AFMO sheds light on and critically examines the transformations of the sustainable economy and contemporary organizations, questioning their promises and limitations in the face of challenges such as AI, the ecological transition, the precariousness of work, and social justice.
The AFMO team aims to:
- Understand the economic and managerial models of alternative organizations and their historical roots.
- Analyze their social contribution and their impact on regions and communities.
- Identify the paradoxes and limitations of organizations in the face of multiple crises.
- Support economic actors in the transition toward sustainable, responsible, and innovative practices.
Research Topics: Social Innovations and Alternative Organizations
This theme examines social and environmental innovations as drivers of transformation in economic, organizational, and territorial models. Beyond discourses on responsibility, AFMO investigates the concrete effects of these innovations.
We analyze initiatives that seek to address ecological and social challenges through innovative solutions. These include frugal, circular, and inclusive practices aimed at reducing environmental impacts while promoting equity. We also examine changes in the regulatory, legal, and technological environment that support the development and implementation of these innovations.
We investigate their capacity to transform modes of production, consumption, and governance, while examining their actual effects on sustainability and social justice. This approach highlights the tensions between stated ambitions and economic constraints, helping to identify the drivers and limitations of so-called “responsible” innovations in the context of systemic transition.
AFMO studies alternative forms of organization—cooperatives, social enterprises, collaborative platforms, and citizen movements—that propose economic and managerial models distinct from dominant forms. A central question runs through this theme: under what conditions can these organizations become credible drivers of sustainable transformation?
AFMO explores their economic logics, organizational practices, and social impacts. We examine how these structures promote participation, inclusion, and the redistribution of value, while also considering the paradoxes and vulnerabilities that may constrain their development.
This research theme seeks to understand the extent to which these alternatives can contribute to sustainable transformation, or whether they remain marginal in the face of competitive and institutional pressures. It identifies the conditions under which these models can become credible drivers of transition.
This research theme focuses on the concrete processes through which organizations are built, transformed, and negotiated on a daily basis. In other words, AFMO analyzes the “making” of organizations—that is, the processes, actors, and mechanisms that shape their structures and practices in everyday life.
We examine how discourses, management tools, and everyday practices contribute to shaping organizations. Particular attention is paid to discourses on innovation, sustainability, and performance, and to their influence on organizational choices and practices. We also focus on the people who inhabit, work within, and contribute to building these organizational forms on a daily basis.
This critical approach highlights the tensions between ideals and realities and examines how organizations adapt to—or resist—contemporary imperatives. It thus provides insight into the dynamics underlying organizational transformation and the conditions that shape how organizations evolve.
AFMO critically analyzes the production, circulation, and use of managerial knowledge within organizations, institutions, and training programs. This knowledge contributes to shaping perceptions of “good management” and influencing professional practices, while also being embedded in specific power relations and institutional contexts.
We examine the processes of legitimation, power relations, and economic and institutional influences that shape the construction and dissemination of managerial knowledge, including in the education and training of managers and students. This research theme seeks to understand how managerial ideas shape organizations and learning practices, while encouraging more reflective and responsible approaches.
Coordination
The AFMO team is led by Hélène Picard, an associate professor at GEM. Her research focuses on emerging managerial and social innovations, including “liberated” companies and “post-heroic” leadership, social and solidarity economy organizations, and third places. She specifically examines how employees experience these changes and how they affect their socio-emotional experience of work.
“Transitions are not promises, but paths to be built. AFMO analyzes organizations with nuance and proposes approaches for practices that combine justice, environmental sustainability, and solidarity.”
Course Content and Links to GEM Programs
The research conducted by the AFMO team directly informs several GEM training programs, particularly those focusing on transition, accountability, and sustainable management.
This close integration of research and teaching enables students to develop a critical and practical understanding of contemporary organizational transformations.
Current Research Projects and Partnerships
Local Sustainability Transition and Well-being Chair (GEM) :
Several AFMO members (Fiona Ottaviani, Thibault Daudigeos, Albane Grandazzi,Claire Le Breton and Hélène Picard) are actively involved in the “Territoires en Transition” Chair (Local Sustainability Transition and Well-being Chair). In particular, they contribute to research on new organizational models for the transition, the transformation of mountain regions, and sustainable lifestyles.
Marcos Barros is the project leader at GEM. The project aims to understand the role of makers as designers within alternative organizations by analyzing their ability to create sustainable, collaborative, and community-based solutions.
Fiona Ottaviani and Thibault Daudigeos are members of the panel’s scientific advisory board.
Cap Bien Vivre Project (a project funded by ADEME)) :
Fiona Ottaviani is the project’s principal investigator, and Lola Mercier Valero is a research associate.
Indicators of Well-Being and the Co-Benefits of Simplicity (a project funded by ADEME) :
Fiona Ottaviani is the project’s principal investigator.
Indicators of Well-Being and the Co-Benefits of Simplicity (a project funded by ADEME) :
Fiona Ottaviani est responsable scientifique du projet.