Nihel JABRI

Jury Membership

Abstract

The phase during which a new external individual owner (PPE) joins a acquired company is the most delicate phase of the business takeover process (Thévenard-Puthod et al., 2014; Actoria, 2016). Indeed, several conflicting challenges—which have been discussed in the literature in a fragmented manner—characterize this phase and appear to contribute to an increased risk of business failure. This dissertation aims to provide a holistic understanding of the dynamics of this phase by employing a paradox-based approach. It seeks, on the one hand, to identify the paradoxes that characterize this phase as well as the various responses to them, and, on the other hand, to describe the structural and temporal dynamics of their evolution. To this end, we adopted a qualitative approach conducted in two phases involving 17 cases of business takeovers in France. Data collection took place between 2020 and 2021 and was based on retrospective semi-structured interviews, which were initially exploratory and later in-depth. The collected data were triangulated with data from the literature and analyzed using the grounded theorization method (Paillé, 1994; 2017), a method that falls within the Grounded Theory approach (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). Our results show that business successors face not only contradictions (oppositions) but also dualities (interrelated, non-contradictory demands) and paradoxes (interrelated, contradictory demands). These various polarities fall into five categories related to different aspects (entrepreneurship, management, socialization, performance, and psychocognition). The contradictions, as well as the paradoxes related to these various aspects, create tensions for business successors. To address these, business successors employ defensive responses, active responses, or a combination of both. An exploration of the structural and temporal dynamics of paradoxes and responses reveals that they are interdependent, existing at different organizational levels and evolving over time. Their emergence and evolution depend on several internal and external factors. Cross-referencing these findings with the existing literature on the subject ultimately leads us to propose a preliminary model for managing the paradoxes faced by PPE business successors during the initial phase.