Personal reflection on finalizing a Doctorate 2005

1. NIMBAS
A Journey to the DBA
By: Dr. Gert Jan Mulder DBA(2005) MBA(1995)
Universiteit Nimbas Alumni
December 2005
Introduction:
Every story of how someone got to the finish line is different. They are all made up of
different personal experiences and personal decisions all within rather different
contexts. Given that the DBA at Universiteit Nimbas and Bradford University is
relatively new I feel obliged - being one the first to finish the program - to give some of
my impressions and perhaps suggestions to its current and future students. I hope that
these may be helpful to some of you.
On obtaining my MBA in December 1995 I became interested, following comments by
Dr. Josephine Borchert, in the fact that one would be able to add in the near future the
title of Dr. to ones name, if and when an agreement with the Universität Braunschweig
(I am not kidding) materialised. She said that with only some polishing and deepening
of a Masters thesis, one would be able to reach that objective.
Unfortunately it had taken a bit longer than expected; in part because of a slow
implementation by NIMBAS but also because of my own personal route to where I find
myself today: a few days away from receiving the DBA title.
As far back as 1999 I was accepted by Prof. Dr. Ruud Lubbers to be one of his PhD
students. Lubbers, four times Prime Minister of the Netherlands, had gotten a part-time
chair in Tilburg on Globalisation and had made it his personal decision to accept me as
his “promovendus”. The problem with Prof. Lubbers was that he was not a professional
‘academic’ and thus did not know how the university worked and what to do with a
student like me. After promising initial start- ups, the globalisation project died because
not one colleague of Prof. Lubbers was interested in acting as co-promoter. He phoned
me up that day explaining the problem and said that he was rather disappointed with the
unwillingness of his ‘colleagues’, and then he suggested that I look for a co-promoter
myself, after which he would be more than happy to continue to support my project.
I was very pleased that not long thereafter NIMBAS finally could announce the launch
of the first DBA cohort, and I was pleased to be accepted as a candidate.
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2. NIMBAS
The first year:
Our first group of students consisted roughly of 15 exceptionally talented people, some
from Germany, some from the UK and an interesting mix of other nationals. We first
met in Utrecht with Dr. Frederick Wheeler, the godfather of the DBA at Bradford and
the one, I now believe, who had been putting most of the energy in getting the DBA
started. A very charming man indeed. Most of us had been out of the study rhythm for
years and most of us needed to get back on track. From the very beginning we were
forced to be clear about what our project would be about. What was it we would be
researching later during the course? I am sure that most of us had problems defining this
(with precision).
Dr. Wheeler gave us some good advice. He asked us to think about our interests and
about which areas we supposed we would be strong in and which areas we supposed we
would not. We were also to think about the issues we were considering as study topic
and to ask ourselves thoroughly whether they would stand the test of the four- year
course, and whether there were any risks that they could become outdated within that
time frame. I believe it was very good advice. There is nothing that will keep you going
during the long – often lonely – journey to the finish line, other than to be absolutely
passionate about your own topic.
My chosen topic was cross-cultural differences and I had a hard time getting people to
become interested in what I felt was so relevant, so important, so fundamental, but also
so complex, so very soft and hard to put your fingers on. I was caught by authors like
Hofstede and many others and felt that this was a neglected phenomenon in my
professional and research area: cross-border finance, credit rating and their effectiveness
and the impacts of culture differences. I will not go into any specific detail of my study
here, but if you should be interested it is readily available at both NIMBAS and
Bradford.
The first papers we needed to write were always like a delivery; delivering a baby that
is: long, tiring, exhausting, sometimes “bloody”, and always with a lot of effort. We had
to choose from a list of topics (which varied according to the subject matter) and then
we had to sit down and write a 3000-word academic paper. I remember that I presented
my first paper without one single referenc e…….. Dr. Wendy Olsen kindly explained
the need for them (taking the reader through an argument, and such in conversation with
existing literature). A total number of six papers had to be produced during that first
year. I understand that the content of the program has slightly changed since then, but
no matter what these changes may be, some aspects will remain the same over time,
some of which I would like to mention in particular:
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3. NIMBAS
• Whilst considering your area and topic start by reading the existing literature: be
very critical of yourself in assuming that others have not asked the same
questions many, many times before. It is here where we learn to build upon the
shoulders of giants. You will make your research so much more interesting if
you consider different research disciplines. When you imagine possible
outcomes or implications of your study, ask yourself in an early stage; SO
WHAT? Could my findings be relevant, and if so TO WHOM?
• In order to be able to understand, critique, and work on any piece of scientific
research, philosophical considerations must be made and one must have a basic
understanding of the different schools of thought; an understanding of where
someone comes from and what his or her belief system represents. In my
experience, the teachings in phylosophy in research shook up all that I knew
and fundamentally changed my views towards others. It deepened my
understanding and respect for different opinions.
• Very early in your study you need to understand the problems of data collection.
Sending out questionnaires to people who have no interest whatsoever in
contributing to your research makes no sense. Why should they? You need to
have a clear perspective on what will be your unit of analysis; or possible
sample(s). So, it is necessary very early on to ask yourself the following
questions: what will your future data possibly be; where will you get it from;
how much work will this entail; and, last but not least, which different
methodologies and methods are you going to consider and apply. There are
many options, all of them valid in their own way, and all of them so interesting
when you first get to see their effects, their possibilities. Every time we were
introduced to a new scientific method, I became eager to use it: when I saw
interviews, I wanted to do interviews; when I learned about case studies, I
wanted to do case studies, observation overt and covert, analysing texts, using
questionnaires etc. etc.
• Reflective learning: your research, the time you spend, the money (do not forget
the money), all will be largely in vain if you do not find it in yourself to reflect
upon what you did, how it changed you, how it brought you off course, the
difficult moments and of course the nice times and good experiences you will
have undoubtedly have gone through, especially working and participating with
your fellow students. I learned more from my fellow students than from most
lecturers and I did not need to pay for it.
• I have always been ‘weak’ in mathematics and therefore also in statis tics. Not
because I couln’t but because I resisted it, I didn’t like it. At a very late stage,
almost too late, I found myself having to invest time in learning about it; bought
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4. NIMBAS
the right books, understood what the relevant statistical tools and methods
meant, their possibilities and limitations, and, last but least, SPSS (a statistical
software program). Thanks to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Richard Welford,
who kind of forced me to do the statistical part myself given that otherwise I
would loose the gr ip and true understanding of my data I went ahead with it. To
my surprise, this statistical part became one of the most gratifying of the entire
research. And some of those students who seemed to be so professional, so
confident with correlations, regressions and the like, are still, even now,
struggling with it. So, good advice, be honest with yourself and confront
yourself in time.
The Management papers:
We had to write three manage ment papers (average 60 pages) during the second year.
These papers could eventually support our final thesis, as building blocks that is. This is
the stage when you really had to submerge yourself into the literature, into your
favourite authors, and very important ly, where you had to find the existing theories on
which to try to build your arguments and your thesis.
I would advise you to try and find possible areas of research in the work of others, there
you may find helpful leads to hypotheses you will want to formulate.
Try to understand the meaning of a conceptual framework, as this will be the key
structure of your research and will help you to find the right approach, the key issues,
the good questions, the road map, or the GPS.
Think thoroughly where you stand and were you come from, which in my case
happened to be ontological relativism. Ontological relativism implies that whatever you
say, wherever you come from, it is all fine by me as long as you do not bother me. In
this branch of thinking and research, claims that things are different from different
points of view and the idea that different viewpoints are equally valid. Moreover,
contrary viewpoints may well be equally valid across particular and peculiar societal
settings.
It is during this second year that you will come to learn that with this education you will
be able to write an acceptable academic paper on almost any subject!
THE THESIS
I have seen DBA theses from Harvard and other Universities which were approximately
(only) 60 pages long. To be able to get my hands on some, I even had to pay US$ 30
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5. NIMBAS
each. I have seen some good ones and many so-so. There wasn’t much to learn from
most of what I saw, other than how I would not like to do mine.
The biggest problem with the final thesis is to start. Start early, get a good structure for
your thesis and start writing those paragraphs and chapters with which you are
comfortable. Use the guidelines of the university and of your supervisor. I envied one of
my colleagues who had this all worked out so well, and had already started it in year
one, working step-by-step toward his end-product. Not everyone is capable of doing
this: after all you need to understand whether you are an Apollonian or a Dionysian.
Let the thesis become your own piece of work, your own thesis, something you are
comfortable and happy with. Remember that it needs to be something you are
passionate about, as I was with mine.
The biggest challenge for me was the data collection, which I partly solved by
organising a three-day (!) conference sponsored by my company and two other banks.
The conference was exclusively linked to my thesis and consequently I was able to
gather for the questionnaire enough expert opinions (all practitioners) and possible
participants to do most of the job. It even gave me the opportunity to triangulate.
The VIVA
Then after lots of work and lots of delays, some bureaucracy in the middle, and the
problem of your supervisor finding an external and internal examiner, you’re ready for
the final exam; the viva voce. That for me was a good moment. For 2,5 hours I was
able to discuss my approach, the choice for the topic, the research findings, my data, the
conclusions and the like, with two academics who had read my entire thesis thoroughly;
and that is very encouraging; to discuss work you have invested so much time, money
and effort in; your work which hopefully makes you proud, and ideally keeps you
passionate even long after the thesis generates dust in the library.
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6. NIMBAS
One night before my viva I got some good advice from the Dean:
- Why did you choose this topic?
- Which other methodologies did you consider for your research?
- What are the main findings and implications of your thesis?
- They usually will be critical regarding your data collection, be prepared to
explain why you decided the way you did.
- They will ‘always’ have some suggestions for improving your thesis; and they
are entitled to do so, because not many others will bother to read your entire
thesis afterwards. Be critical, but be also prepared to accept suggestions.
- Most of the time there will be typing errors (not in mine, thanks to Maria and
Nathalie)
I was asked to include the implications of this research for different interest groups. The
viva gave me the opportunity to explain this well. I originally had not wanted to include
those, because I felt they could be somewhat arrogant (ontological relativism).
Finally, the internal who does all the paperwork for the Registrar of the University, will
be able to advise you about where and with whom you should do the printing of your
thesis. It needs to be duly binded before the degree ceremony. In my case, it cost me
250 pounds sterling.
It was all more than worth it!
Thanks to everybody (for details see my thesis, BANKS, CREDIT AND CULTURE)
Dr. Gert Jan Mulder DBA MBA
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