THOMAS DURAND is professor of Business Strategy at Ecole Centrale Paris, France. His research interests focus on technology strategy, the management of innovation, organizational learning and competence, and foresight and strategy. He also heads CM International, a management consultancy which he founded, with forty staff in France, the UK, Ireland and Spain, working for large corporations and public organizations.STEPHANIE DAMERON is professor of Strategic Management and Organizational Behaviour at Rouen University and at CREPA-Paris Dauphine University, France. Her research interests focus on organizational and group dynamics. She is currently working on the developmental process of cooperative relationships, based on case studies such as mergers or communities of practice.