Finding Meaning by Participating in Decisions Affecting Us, Our Work and Our Lives: Lessons Learned at Mondragón
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University of San Diego Digital USD Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2004-08-01 Finding Meaning by Participating in Decisions Affecting Us, Our Work and Our Lives: Lessons Learned at Mondragón David Herrera EdD University of San Diego Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations Part of the Leadership Studies Commons Digital USD Citation Herrera, David EdD, "Finding Meaning by Participating in Decisions Affecting Us, Our Work and Our Lives: Lessons Learned at Mondragón" (2004). Dissertations. 731. https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/731 This Dissertation: Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FINBING MEANING BY PARTICIPATING IN DECISIONS AFFECTING US, OUR WORK AND OUR LIVES: LESSONS LEARNED AT MONDRAGON by DAVID HERRERA A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education University of San Diego August 2004 Dissertation Committee Paula A. Cordeiro, Ed.D., Chair Kathleen M. Collins, Ph.D. Cheryl Getz, Ed.D. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by David Herrera 2004 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract There has been a growing interest in exploring participatory organizational models for the last fifty years, accentuated by the recent corporate scandals that revealed the inadequacies of non-participatory organizational systems. Research studies have focused on organizational structures, policies and practices that make participation possible but it is persons who make participation happen. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore the significance of participation by examining the question: What does the experience of partaking in decision making mean to persons who engage in it. This research is a phenomenological-heuristic study. Phenomenology explores the lived experience of participating in decision making. Heuristic inquiry includes the researcher’s experience in the study. Data collection consisted mostly of two in-depth dialogic interviews with each of eight respondents from the Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa (Spain), selected because of their extensive experience as protagonists in an organization that promotes broad participation. Research data were analyzed by identifying the meanings respondents attributed to the experience of participating in decision making and by using narrative analysis for their work and life experiences. Three feedback cycles from respondents were included in writing the final text. Since this research is intended for the general reader, its contents were represented as dialogic narratives throughout and tools from the “narrative non- fiction” genre were used to express meanings and personal experiences. The study describes fifteen interdependent outcomes: nine personal stories and six common themes. It also includes a synthesis, as well as personal and leadership implications. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This research work intends to enhance the knowledge of participation in decision making by exploring the potential to deepen the meaning of partaking in decisions affecting each person in his or her work and life. It also aims to explore a methodology that facilitates the expression of meanings and lived experiences and makes research studies more accessible to the general reader. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my beloved wife Cherie Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work became a reality with the support of many people. I am deeply grateful to my collaborators in Mondragon who opened their minds and hearts to reveal personal details of their lives and experiences, reviewed this research study at three different stages, and corroborated that my interpretation of the study had resonance with their experience. I express my gratitude to my committee members, Dr. Paula Cordeiro, Dr Kathleen Collins and Dr. Cheryl Getz, who provided me with enthusiastic support and constructive criticism at different stages of this project. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Cordeiro, who guided and encouraged me through the circuitous paths of writing this dissertation as a book. Along with her sensitivity, attentive listening and reading and re-reading sections of my project, she often suggested creative ways to express what I needed to write. Her continuous enthusiasm and flexibility were crucial to accomplishing what I set out to do: write a research study accessible to the general reader. I am deeply grateful for the fervent support from my family, who found ways to make my dissertation writing process into a participatory affair. Our children Cristina, Daniel, his fiancee Eranki, and my parents-in-law helped me with their commentaries, critiques, proofreading of the texts, preparation of my presentation charts and a continued interest in discussing my often-unorthodox approaches to write my dissertation project. I am most profoundly grateful to my wife Cherie, who participated in most aspects of my dissertation, discussing my evolving ideas, offering new insights, proofreading the final text, and especially providing space and time for almost two years to write my dissertation uninterrupted by our usually busy lives. In addition, her patience with my physical and mental absence during long writing bouts, days and nights, weeks on end, was invaluable to complete my dissertation. I thank all my friends and teachers who shared their warmth, interest and expertise with me. Likewise, I appreciate the wisdom and knowledge that people from so many walks of life, spiritual traditions, cultures and countries have shared with me throughout my life journey, either personally or through their writings. I could not have integrated so many diverse pieces of my life into this dissertation without the inspiration drawn from tliem. I know I could not be who I am today if they had not touched and influenced me along the way. Most importantly, I thank God, who has blessed me abundantly with His/Her gifts that make everything possible. V lll Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.....................................................................................................viii TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................ix PREFACE............................................................................................... xiii INTRODUCTION............................................................................. xiv NOTES AND SOURCES..................................................................................................... xix PARTI THE EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPATING IN DECISION MAKING............................. 1 CHAPTER 1 WHY IS OUR PARTICIPATION IN DECISION MAKING IMPORTANT?.................. 2 Rationale for the Study of Participation ..................................................................... 3 Why Study Participation at Mondragon? ................................................................... 7 A Meeting with Damian and Kurtis Two Weeks Before My Trip ......................... 10 CHAPTER 2 ARRIVING IN MONDRAGON...........................................................................................11 CHAPTER 3 MONDRAGON AND ITS PRINCIPLES............................................................................ 13 CHAPTER 4 ARIZMENDI t\RRIETA AND HIS ROLE ..........................................................................26 CHAPTER 5 VOICES FROM MONDRAGON - A POETIC TRANSCRIPTION............................... 44 CHAPTER 6 THE CHIQUITEO GROUP ENCOUNTERS WITH PARTICIPATION.........................52 Who Are My Collaborators? .....................................................................................53 Introducing the Study about Participation ...............................................................55 Participation and Young People ............................................................................... 58 Participation and Fear ............................................................................................... 62 Participation and Decision M aking ..........................................................................64 What Facilitates Participation? ................................................................................. 68 Promoting Participation ............................................................................................ 69 Can We Learn to Participate? ................................................................................... 72 ix Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 7 PERSONAL ENCOUNTERS WITH PARTICIPATION..................................................78 Jon ................................................................................................................................78 Rosario.............................................................................................