ABSTRACT
Participants’ commitment is essential to the outcome of any project conducted under extreme conditions, such as polar expeditions. Th e same statement can be applied to the entire fi eld of project management (Baron, 1993; Schmid & Adams, 2008), where outcomes depend more on an individual’s actual commitment than personal skills, however crucial they may be. Th is issue has never been specifi cally addressed by the management sciences (Garel, Giard, & Midler, 2003).* Some analyses and observations (Récopé, Rix, Fache, & Lièvre, 2006) have shown that a participant’s expressed motivation outside the practical context should be distinguished from his or her actual mobilization in situ. Th is calls into question the complex issues surrounding commitment (Kanfer, 1990; Roussel, 2000; Dalmas, 2007). Research conducted in motivational psychology and in the philosophy of experience provides valuable insight into this issue of using notions of mobilization, norms, and sensibility. Th is research has
shed light on the behavior of those taking part in polar expeditions, and a case study on two team members with diff erent sensibilities provides empirical support. Our conclusions have led us to reconsider the issue of team recruitment by emphasizing the importance of commitment not only in terms of its intensity but especially in terms of its meaning.
