PART 3: Application of the Interpretive Research Framework using the PCP Theory

This chapter examined some of the underlying assumptions, research objectives, and practical applications of the repertory grid (RG) technique in social housing maintenance management research. It also described why the use and evaluation of the RG should be grounded in the assumptions of the theory from which it derives, George Kelly’s personal construct psychology (PCP), and examines the way in which it is both congruent with and can contribute to the development of the emerging interpretive paradigm in social housing maintenance and management research. The specific questions that the RG can help to answer about housing providers and purchasers' (customers) behaviour experience are identified and illustrated by the current research and empirical study. Overall, it is argued that when the RG is employed within the current framework guidelines of PCP it provides a useful interpretive research framework for exploring some of the similarities and differences in the content and structure of asset managers and consumers’ subjective meaning systems. Although, the RG framework was primarily created for use in clinical settings to assist with the understanding of the patients’ psychological problems, the flexibility of the framework, concepts obtained through the Grid method has enabled its application in a great variety of situations outside the clinical field.

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Hemmecke & Stary (2005) discovered that the increased division of labour and social character of work, knowledge sharing between communities in Austria was difficult. They introduced this research framework to elicit knowledge about work practices of individual stakeholders by capturing the personal constructs, historic-social and material knowledge. Hemmecke & Stary were able to feedback elicited knowledge to customer relationship managers and were able to apply various business process models to capturing community knowledge and working practices.

Marsden & Litter (1998) examined the underlying assumptions and objectives of the research framework in consumer research. Their findings suggest that the RG produced a holistic picture of consumer experience as it identified the categories that consumers use to group different products and services, which are often treated separately. The RG is capable of eliciting a wide variety of constructs (cognitive, effective, conative) from consumers at different levels of psychological abstraction.

Crudge & Johnson (2006), also used this research framework for the determination of users’ representations of search engines, formed during their interaction with these systems. They evaluated the extent to which these elicited “mental models” indicate the system aspects of importance to the user and from this their evaluative view of these tools. The RG was used to elicit a set of constructs that define facets within the mental model of an individual. Laddering technique allowed each of the users constructs to determine the reasons for its importance within the users mental model. The model derived from the qualitative data comprises three hierarchical strata and conveys the interrelations between basic system description, evaluative description and the key evaluations of ease, efficiency, effort and effectiveness.

This research framework has been successfully applied in the Facilities Management sector particularly criteria used in appointing sub-contractors for building refurbishment contracts by Okoroh (1998) whereby critical constructs were identified for selecting and appointing subcontractors and culminating in developing an expert system. Whilst Jones (2001) examined the role of facilities Management in small to medium hotels and perception of key factors that impact on customers and facilities managers. Gombera (2003) focussed the research on the nature of facilities management in the NHS and developed key business factors that led to better management of the facilities which culminated in the development of

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an expert decision support system. Liyanage & Egbu (2004) examined the role of facilities management in the control of healthcare associated infections, the findings led to the development of expert knowledge based systems. Bärtolo (2002) examined the application of RG to the assessment of users' perceptions of design quality in construction of the lecture rooms at Reading University. These are a few examples where the above researchers have successfully used and implemented similar research framework methodology within the built environment sector.

This research framework is very flexible and can be adapted to suit the dynamics of knowledge in work activities, at any time and in any organisation setting and in any domain. Hence, the research framework has been the object of an increasing interest in diverse fields ranging from organisational culture and orientation which has led to development of predictive models; education – understanding teacher/student performance, teaching styles and the environment leading to better understanding of interaction with the users and providers of the services and teaching environment; computing IT and human interaction; Marketing research; Management and Human Resources see table 5.3.

Table 5.3: Applications of Research Framework

Application Of RG Purposes Researchers Organisational Culture and orientation.

• Intervention limited to a few levels or departments or organisation wide

• Know why the organisation's culture is needed - what are the pressures and the organisations responses (i.e. for preparation on competencies)

• Know what the history of intervention is - is there mistrust of like processes?

• Know what are expectations for the future - closures and redundancies? support management decision-making; • capture a representation of an organisation's culture; • used in market research;

• gain insight into how the organisation manages change and crises;

• understand the perceptions of an expert;

• support developing management competences and facilitating an organisational change programme; and

support a study programme

• is the organisation’s own, expressed in their language and reflecting their business priorities;

• involves managers in their development, thus ensuring their commitment to the competences and to the demands which might be made on them in order to bring the competences to life;

• ensures that the gap between past and future competences has

Smith & Stewart, 1977; Easterby-Smith, 1981; Easterby-Smith et al. 1996; Yahya and Goh 2002; Jasimuddin, 2005; Jasimuddin et al.2005; Busch, 2006; Pathirage et al. 2007; Muir, 2008.

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Education • help students learn individual topics and develop generic analytical, navigation, and learning-to-learn skills • training needs analysis

• training evaluation • selection interviewing • analyse learning styles • offer career counselling

• counsel students with personal problems • teacher exploring his perceptions of his class

• to support the teaching of course material - e.g. modern history

• help the teacher and student explore the circumstances under which the student learns best setting goals

Pope & Keen, 1981; Smith, 1986; Stewart, 1997, Christie & Menmuir, 1997; Derry & Potts, 1998; Roy L 2001; Wang, 2004; Jafari et al. 2007; Kington et al. 2008; Maimunah, 2008; Jafari et al. 2010; Lemke & Petersen, 2013; Walker 2013. Human computer interaction Artificial intelligence

• Product to process research and development

• Communication from individuals to groups – network, conferencing, stakeholders and partners

• Laboratory to workplace • Analysis to design

• User centred to user involved design

• User requirements specification to iterative design • Understanding complex decision making

• Programming and virtual environment • Embedding and imposing certain rules

• Creating an implicit community by linking work task or several people

• Trigger predetermined responses

Gaines 1989; Shaw 1989; Petty et al. 2008; Millward et al. 2010; McDonald, 2011; Toosi et al. 2013

Corporaal 1991; Pope & Denicolo, 1993; Boyle, 2005; Song & Gale, 2008; Goffin et al. 2010; Goffin et al. 2012; Jafari et al.2013; Boose, 1985; Gaines & Shaw, 1992; Noh et al. 2000; Childs et al. 2006; Tonge, 2008; Barnes et al. 2012.

Marketing research

• Can encourage your customer to define the ideal product, • Can make trade-offs,

• Assign priorities,

• Experiment with different scenarios, and

• Can see how your customers’ views of your product compare with those of your staff, and learn whether they see the same things as important.

Frost & Braine, 1967; Riley & Palmer, 1975; Goffin, 1994; Marsden & Littler, 2000; Rogers & Ryals, 2007; Beverland et al. 2010; Goffin & Koners, 2011; Whyte & Classen, 2012; Evans et al. 2012; Yeo et al. 2012; Goffin, 2013; Pepe, 2013.

Management and Human Resources

• evaluate the effectiveness of training: knowledge-based training, skills training, and major developmental interventions;

• act as a selection interview tool, either in assessing knowledge or as a highly advanced behaviour-based interview;

• develop person-specifications, for an existing job or for concentrating attention on the demands of a new job;

• develop person specifications by analysing the characteristics of existing jobholders

• measure organisation culture, facilitate change, and develop management competences;

• develop individual training needs and act as a tool for performance counselling;

• reflect on personal experience, for example examining individual learning styles, self-analysis of skills and abilities, and examining people’s experience with systems such as performance appraisal;

• design attitude surveys, for example on work stress; • design a training programme for knowledge or skills; • support an organisational review;

Brown, 1992; Reger & Huff, 1993; Hunter 1997; Hunter & Beck, 2000; Micheli et al. 2012; Bauman, 2013; Cottrell et al. 2013.

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5.6 Summary

This chapter provided insight into the various research methodologies available; this study has adopted a qualitative approached. Based on the case studies and pilot study, this research utilises the Kelly’s Personal Construct Psychology as a novel approach to elicit crucial factors that impact on the decision making process. This chapter discussed the make up of the RG framework which was directly elicited by the asset managers and customer of the social housing. They ensure that all factors included in the RG (i.e. constructs and elements) reflected the ‘real world’. Several developmental protocols have been adopted in the form of workshops and dry runs were conducted to eliminate any errors prior to conducting in-depth interviews.

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CHAPTER 6