Case Study

This subsection will intioduce the case study approach, discuss it critically in terms of its advantages and limitations, and justify its addition to a GT methodology. It also explains design issues and analysis units associated with the adopted approach.

3.7.2.1 Background

A case study approach gives the researcher an opportunity for an intensive observation of one or more individual units, rather than a total population or a sample of it, with a view to answering one or more research questions. This approach is particularly preferred in examining contemporary events (Yin, 1987). Hence, it is relevant to this study because it aims to investigate processes of CADCAM integration as they occur in their natural organisational settings. In this study the case study approach is chosen in order to allow the researcher a considerable degree of flexibility, scope and freedom regarding the quantity of data to be collected, the collection procedure, and the sources

of infomiation to be used. An intensive case approach is suited to exploratory research, since it is capable of stimulating insights in studying unformulated areas, revealing more information for understanding relationships between real life variables, and suggesting hypotheses for further research (Yin, 1987).

It is hoped that detailed case descriptions (Chapter 5) and analyses (Chapters 6 and 7) help counteract a simplistic and discipline-biased analysis. Like any other method of research, however, this approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. These will be discussed in the following subsection before proceeding further to talk about the need for it in the present research design.

3,7.2.2 Strengths and Weaknesses

A researcher must be sufficiently aware of both the strengths and weaknesses of the research methods he/she utilises.

In short, the strengths of this approach can be summarised in the following points: 1) Case studies enable the researcher to observe events of the study in its natural setting'^.

2) In a case study situation a researcher can utilise various methods for data collection, as is the case in this research. For example, interview data can be combined with the researcher's observations for improved reliability.

3) The case study technique permits interdependent reactions and mutual perceptions to be obtained from different individuals whose behaviours are interrelated in a single social organisation. Discrepancies in information given by different informants will warrant additional exploration, which is possible in case study, to establish whether such discrepancies resulted from differences in perceptions and personal experiences or a reflection of group membership and role dissimilarities.

4) Case studies tend, particularly in a longitudinal research context as is the case in this research, to continue over a period of time, allowing the researcher to maintain continuous observation. A longer involvement allows interconnections and events to be traced over time, so that processes can be inferred. Also, data and emerging findings can be continuously cross-checked and refined to increase reliability.

^The case study approach allows a researcher to establish a direct contact with the studied reality and, arguably, provide more reliable knowledge in answering difficult questions than he/she can by statistical generalisations due to a more grounded basis for personal understanding. It could also be contended that it would provide a more solid ground for considering action in applied research situations. The case study approach is strong in realism, significance, theory orientation, and heuristic quality (Kerlinger, 1973). Therefore, the value of case study lies in the adequacy of the theoretical inferences that are generated (Yin, 1987).

Weaknesses of the case study approach should be carefully taken into account. These can be summarised in the following points:

1) Biased views and dubiousness of evidence would influence the degree of rigour applicable in a case study situation. This could negatively affect the credibility of findings and conclusions.

2) Data collection procedures are not routinised. Therefore, they require extra skills on the part of the researcher than in experimental and survey approaches.

3) Some respondents might not be prepared to co-operate sufficiently such that all data requirements could be met. They might avoid an explicit rejection with excuses of being busy with their work.

4) Findings and conclusions from a single case study cannot be generalised for a population. However, the use of multiple case studies, as has been done in this study, is a conscious attempt to increase the level of generalisation^.

3.7.2.3 Case Study As Well: Why?

The need for case study besides GT in the context of the present research design is clearly defined. It is used in the earlier stages of the research process as a means for the following:

1) Creating conceptual "boxes" for the collection of data with respect to each of the companies researched in order to keep filling them with data as the field work progresses.

2) Organising the accumulative data with a view to building more structured data collections which are organised in such a way as to show classified information about the companies, individual actors and their relationships, events and references to problems of importance affecting or mentioned by informants.

3) Analysing data categories and properties common to all cases as these emerge from cross-company comparisons.

4) Helping the researcher answer the tentative research questions in terms of the cases in the study (Chapter 6), each of which with its unique history and operating as a complex organisational entity within its environment.

The case study approach is theoretically important for the study in three ways:

1 ) Unless a technological change process is explained through a case study approach, with a view to tracing the decisions and actions involved in it through to their

^Also, by choosing to study the "typical", the "common" and the "ordinary" a researcher can maximise generalisability from the outset when a multi-site reseaich design is adopted deliberately on the grounds that the chosen sites are typical representatives of the social institutions or phenomena under investigation (see Schofield, 1993).

outcomes, the experience of the process itself and its consequent outcomes will remain to be the best route to knowledge about it. Case histories can show what actions in what circumstances will lead to what outcomes. Theoretical relationships can be synthesised with a view to explaining what exactly happens in organisations .

2) The experience of conducting a systematic and rigorous case study brings home the complexities of the technological change process. In conducting a detailed study of selected cases the complex social and political web in which technological change is undertaken becomes salient with positive implications for theory generation.

3) A process of technological change and its successful or failed outcomes cannot be understood thoroughly with superficial data-gathering methods that yield face value information. The case study approach will hopefully unveil what is problematic in the chosen field of investigation; it helps generate ideas about cause-effect chains and stimulates the researcher's thinking about practical solutions in constrained organisational contexts. This is because case study is an effective approach for answering "how", "why", and "what" research questions when asked in an exploratory context (see Yin, 1987: 17).

3.7.2.4 The Case Study Design

Different researchers have different purposes for studying cases. Designing a case study should be guided by the purpose one sets out to achieve. Depending on a single case study can be unreliable in a study founded on a non-statistical logic. A multiple of cases will provide confidence in claiming a higher degree of representativeness. Therefore, this study utilises a case study style involving a multiple of cases with a view to developing theory on the chosen subject matter.

Case study is a useful way for inducing and directing further research, because it helps a researcher develop an informed account about the case(s) being studied and enables him/her to pursue missing or unclear points that may emerge with a view to further theoretical development.

A replication, as opposed to a sampling, logic is suggested for studies involving more than a single case. Each case resembles a single experiment. Analysis follows a cross­ experiment, rather than a within experiment, design logic. Replication is relevant to the case study design adopted because of the multiplicity of cases studied (see Yin, 1987). Case history details forms an important part of the case study design in this research. Through a case history the researcher aims to establish a historical account of the companies involved and their experiences with stand alone DEM systems such as CAD and CAM (see Chapter 5). This is needed to study the issue of integration against a

realistic background knowledge of each of the companies, not only as they are researched in their present form, but also in terms of how their respective technical, commercial and organisational developments have shaped them historically. Assessing the experiences of key individuals involved in such developments will be important in order to establish historical accounts of how stand alone computer applications have evolved. The aim is to develop as comprehensive an account as possible of the cases through a longitudinal case study design^.

Three considerations are important in the design of the present case study element of the research strategy. In other words, for a case study approach to be useful for this study it has to fulfil the following three conditions:

1) encompass enough of the facts about the company in question, the engineering work flow process that essentially characterised its DEM activities, the stand alone technology systems in applications, their formal technical and financial objectives and outcomes, the implementation process, the organisational implications of implementation, and the status quo of the issue of integration in the light of such particular specifities. Hence, the length of case write-ups should be decided on the basis of a calculated estimation of the minimum sufficient details required to give an in- depth appreciation of all the factors involved in the studied processes.

2) Be conducted consistently and rigorously. A well researched case study should not risk being biased by giving an account based on a single source of information. Data of all types and from all the sources available to the researcher will be used.

3) Establish what is common and what is paiticular about each case to unveil the degree of uniqueness available, by defining: (a) the nature of the case, (b) its historical background, (c) the physical setting, (d) other relevant contexts and (e) those infomiants through whom the case can be recognised. Case specifities such as these are discussed in detail in Chapter 5 to justify the claim that the uniqueness of cases is likely to be pervasive through such particulars.

Deciding on the unit(s) of analysis is an important step to be taken in any research design since it helps define the research's boundaries. In this sense it can be viewed as part of a case study research design. The units of analysis used in the study will, therefore, be discussed in the following subsection.

9As Layder (1992) points out, incorporating a historical dimension into a study should be taken seriously because it offers an enriched analysis. Whyte (1984) also argues that any study of an organisation should be built on a firm historical base whereby historical data should be integrated into any analysis of present structural and social process data.

3.7.2.5 Units of Analysis

The present study is more interested in understanding the ebb and flow of the processes of CAD CAM integration in the cases studied than in isolating static factors affecting these processes and their organisational outcomes. Therefore, its unit of analysis must be the project incorporating the whole CADCAM (or CIM) process from initiation to termination and the implications of this process for integration at a manufacturing organisation level, particularly in so far as the DEM interfaces are concerned. Therefore, the design, engineering, and manufacturing functional departments of the cases studied will represent the core of the cross-site comparative analysis. The companies will be investigated firstly in their entireties as organisational settings (see Chapter 5). Consequently, as the research process progresses the emphasis will shift towards the mentioned functions specifically as the more immediate functional environments involved in change.

In short, the central unit of analysis in this research is a manufacturing company's project for implementing CADCAM integration and the leadership of the integration process. To begin with, however, five tentative units of analysis will be utilised in the initial stages of case data analysis. These are the: (1) organisational setting, (2) engineering and manufacturing activities within such settings, (3) elements of integrating technologies in application, (4) historical background to technological change in the CAD and CAM areas, and (5) background to the organisational contexts for integration (see Chapter 5).

The next section will discuss the third component of the research design: longitudinality.