Abstract
This thesis examines the significance of digital transformation within the SNCF and its link with previous neo-managerial reform undertakings. It is structured in three parts, aiming to grasp the project articulated around the notion of digital transformation, to carry out a sociology of the actors behind it, and to identify the strategies and devices used by the latter to impose their agenda within the organization. As far as the project is concerned, the results highlight that behind the notion of digital transformation, the 'modernization' project largely consists of disseminating a new spirit, which takes the giants of the digital economy as its reference model. As a result, the project goes beyond the SNCF's neo-managerial turnaround, encouraging a movement towards neo-marketing and neo-rationalization, and forming part of the broader trend towards post-new public management. As far as the actors are concerned, the results show that this project is being driven by employees who are distanced from the history and destiny of the organization, and who are in favor of the SNCF's new objectives in terms of financial performance. They therefore contribute even more to making digitalization a contribution to the reform. However, these players are embedded in professional and organizational struggles, which limits their power to act. To compensate for this, they are seeking to enlist all the organization's employees in their project by making extensive use of mechanisms designed to spread this new spirit throughout the organization.