The Case Study Approach

With regard to choosing the case study approach for this research, Patton (1987) and Eisenhardt (1989) have pointed out that the case study approach is appropriate when the research concerns a new domain, and especially when the research purpose involves seeking a new perspective, with a limited existing knowledge about the phenomenon under study. As Yin (2003) indicates, a case study is preferred when the research seeks answers to ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions, which are sought from a real-life context where the researcher can hardly control the involved events. Moreover, a case study is also a suitable research method when the focus is on understanding the complex and dynamic nature of the phenomena studied, as is the case with the CIN in this research. However, in conducting a case study, Yin (ibid) further suggests alternatives to its design, a single-case study or a multiple-case study, both of which can utilize a single unit/level of analysis or multiple units/levels of analysis. It is also important to determine the level of analysis used within the case study. A multiple-case study, with multiple levels of analysis, was chosen for this study. The reason is that instead of taking a concentration approach with a single case study, which is suitable in testing a well-formulated theory or developing a theoretical model, as Yin suggests, the purpose of this study is to provide a holistic, broader view of the network phenomenon, as more multifaceted and interconnected. In other words, the case study strategy taken for this study ‘is not a methodological choice but a choice of what is to be studied’ (Holliday 2007:15).

In terms of the multiple-case study, during the research process, such a research design proved to be manageable, as there were no major problems gaining access to the needed information. This was also due to the fact that my investigations

focused on representative independent production companies in Taiwan and UK. The reason for choosing the Taiwan/independent film production and the UK/independent TV production is that I wanted to give a broader view on the networks of the AVS, by covering its core industries i.e. the TV and film industries, and to show how networks operate at differing levels of maturity and development; and how the independent production matures within the sector. Therefore the multiple-case study of this research was like taking a snapshot of the independent production sector, both from the more vulnerable, emerging end in Taiwan, and the relatively more consolidated, established end in the UK. I argue that the network phenomenon in Taiwan can be understood as disorganized and individualistic, while the UK represents a more collective, strategic scenario. In other words, the research approach is combinatorial rather than comparative, incorporating both the developing and the developed contexts. This is the foundation for developing the management and policy implications for the networks later in Chapter 7. However, the purpose of such a design was not so much to seek law-like generalizations, but to draw out the similarities and contrasts in their network practices, so as to provide deeper, as well as broader meanings to the network phenomenon.

Multiple levels of Analysis

As was pointed out earlier, the case study in this research consists of three interrelated levels of analysis, from the individual, to the project, to the firm levels of analysis. The bottom-up, three-level analysis of the case studies of Taiwan and

UK are presented in Chapter 5 and 6. The individual-level analysis aims to

influence their CIN practices, and shape the ways in which networks develop in relation to their own internal organization and content making. The project-level analysis continues to be an examination into the internal process of how producers interact with other network agents and process the complexity involved in the network tasks and drive the CIN development of their productions. As the purpose of this research is to understand the internal dynamics of the independent productions, the project-level analysis is thus the primary focus of research. At firm level, I look at whether the networking practices around the productions have triggered any organization structure, management action and strategy of the firm, or whether the production company takes any proactive approach to advance the company in a cross-industry way.

The CAS Analytical Framework

Methodologically, the research design of the multiple-level analysis, multiple-case study, and the combination of the more chaotic scenario at one end of the spectrum in Taiwan and the relatively ordered scenario at the other end in the context of UK connect fundamentally to the conceptual logics of the CAS. Firstly, the CAS framework gives a broader view, and includes different contexts, by looking at the AVS as a dynamic and an interrelated system. Secondly, as the capacity of CAS ‘for handling issues of micro/macro inter-relationships lies exactly in its central concern with the emergent order’ (Byrne 1998:48), it provides a way of relating the micro and the macro, in that it offers a way of describing how or whether the micro-level characteristics have any impact on the development of their business networks. Thirdly, the CAS framework not only allows for a conceptualizing of the CIN as an ongoing process so as to track the

evolutions of the network development. It also seeks to understand the organizational dynamics of a system evolving from a chaotic state to an ordered state (Anderson 1999).

At this point, while I shall elaborate the analytical framework in Chapter 3, it is necessary here to indicate two other points concerning my analytical approach, as based on the CAS models. Firstly, as CAS models have their roots in multidisciplinary studies, the definitions and interpretations of complexity are all context-dependent (Mitleton-Kelly 2003:26-28). In this network research, I refer to complexity as organizational complexity, which is involved in intricate inter-relationships across organization levels within the network system, from individual producers to the related businesses in the AVS. Secondly, as the relevance of complexity is subject to the specific organizational context, I have to be decisive in choosing a fitting approach to applying the CAS models to the network phenomenon. Here, I follow Stacey’s approach (2000), taking the model and its theory as a source from which to draw insights for the management of organizational relationships. This enables analogies to be draw between the properties of CAS and the characteristics of the network phenomenon under study, so as to examine and disentangle their complexity.

In terms of the primary data collection methods applied in this study, they include the following: a) collection of relevant literature: policy documentations, official statistics and trade reports and papers, and on-line information and data; b) pilot study c) semi-structured interviews; and d) case studies. I will explain the overall empirical process of data collection, analysis and presentation in Chapter 4.