Testimony from Maite Legarra
Testimony from Maite Legarra
Testimony from Maite Legarra
What was your thesis topic?
In my doctoral thesis I analysed the business succession process, a process that many business in Spain will have to pass through in the upcoming years, in general, and in the Basque Country Autonomous Community in particular. The business succession process involves two key parts, which may or may not occur at the same time: management succession, where owners cede management of the organisation to another person(s); property succession, where there are multiple alternatives, from the sale to foreign/external investors to the purchase of the organisation by the employees, with the aim of creating, amongst other business structures, a cooperative.
For this I used a qualitative research design, since it offered an open, flexible research context. I decided to research a case study of a company in Gipuzkoa that was experiencing a succession process, both of the management and property. Through complete, participative observation, I had the opportunity to experience, from up close, the succession process. This way I was able to collect evidence in real time on the different factors that influence the succession process, analysing the long-term evolution of these factors, while also collecting the perceptions, emotions and experiences of the different stakeholders. This helped me understand the complexity of the succession process.
How did you experience the doctoral thesis process?
I recall the four years finishing my doctoral thesis as a demanding learning process. Demanding in terms of hours put in, but also psychologically.
Normally the learning process is full of emotional highs and lows, where sensations of uncertainty and chaos or constant. In my case I spent a lot of time focusing and narrowing down my subject of study, trying to understand the factors I had to study. Moreover, since I knew I was going to write an applied thesis, which involved collecting experiences and events of an organisation that was in the succession process, the process was slow, since it is difficult to identify and get an organisation to participate in the research.
And once I was able to enter into an organisation, the intensity of the research absorbed me completely. The changes in the research questions, incorporating new elements to the conceptual framework were daily occurrences throughout the whole year. Therefore, I learned to live in this uncertainty that led me to constant changes.
What did this doctoral thesis provide you as a professional and as a person?
Professionally it helped me grow. It's a process that leads you to new knowledge and live experiences that otherwise you would not have experienced. It helped me structure my mind, reason in a structured manner and analyse the data from an analytical perspective that I didn't have before.
Besides, the fact that I could experience a succession process first hand within an organisation offered me the opportunity to acquire real knowledge on the culture and change processes that occur within organisations; an opportunity to live the experience in a real organisation.
And personally, it has also provided me growth. It has helped me mature as a person, assume responsibilities and analyse the realities from a different plane; manage emotions, frustrations and chaos. But above all, it has helped me to learn and accept changes.
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