Résumé en anglais

Do companies in developing countries can be modernised despite their culture, by fighting against it or simply by importing the so-called ―universal‖ standards developed in the west? Or, on the contrary, do they show that there is good in each culture, even in terms of management and that these countries can be modernised by leveraging their culture? Drawing upon the case of Poulina-a Tunisian company that has implemented American management techniques- this paper aims to improve our understanding of management modernisation‘ challenges in developing countries. It advocates that it is incoherent to impose to developing countries to adopt a unique model of management. Such scheme does not respect the local cultural specificities and ignore the opportunities that they can bring. The case provides an illustration of the importance of providing local and legitimate meanings to the imported techniques to make their implementation successful in developing countries.