Case Study

4.5 Population, data collection and sample details

4.5.1 Case Study

The current study will depend primarily on qualitative methods rather than quantitative methods. An organisational, case study method was used to collect data from one of the oil and gas companies which was the primary focus of the study.

The focus of the case study was the implementation and evaluation of a new programme to support Emiratisation targets in the company. The case study method was not used for the other oil companies or for the non oil and gas company included in the study.

4.5.1.1 Data collection procedure employed for the case study

This section describes various procedures and methods used by the author for planning and preparing, collecting the data and to develop the case study.

Planning and Preparation

Leenders,James and Mauffette(2001) states that a case writer has to make the following three important choices during the planning and preparation stage.

 Choice of issue

 Choice of timing and action triggers

 Choice of decision frame cut

The current author also was faced with the above three choices which were important to address and decide. Accordingly the following decisions were taken, after considering the objectives of the current study and the role and purpose of the case study in the current study.

1. Choice of issue: It was decided that the case study will focus mainly on the Competency Management System which was introduced for developing UAE nationals as a new project in the organisation under study. It was also decided that the author will focus only on UCOG and not on its parent organisation or the other organisations in the group. The focus on the parental and group organisations were limited to provide only the context required for understanding the current focus.

2. Choice of timing and action triggers: It was decided that the author will consider the introduction of the Competency Management System as the action trigger and limit the timing to cover only the past, present and future contexts related to this trigger.

3. Choice of decision frame cut: It was decided that the author will focus on the decision to introduce the Competency Management System and its consequences as the decision frame cut for writing the case

Data Collection

Multiple data sources were used for developing the case study in order to permit triangulation and corroboration of evidences. Accordingly multiple methods were used to collect the data for the current case study which are explained below:

1. Participative observation: The author was part of the organization and the project which enabled him to observe and document the key observations as a participant on a daily basis. Maximum efforts were taken to remain objective and record the observations as needed

2. Interviews with the stakeholders: The author was part of many feedback

interviews and audit interviews with the stakeholders (Viz., line managers, developees, top management. Skill Pool Experts, Mentors, Coaches and representatives from the parental organisation). These interviews were part of the normal work, and were meant for evaluating the UAE national development initiative under focus. Some of the interviews, such as the audit interviews were semi structured in nature.

3. Printed Company documents: The author also used various documents

available in the company such as guide books, assessment forms, road maps, skill and competency definitions and so forth

4. Published Sources: Published books and articles about the company were also referred.

5. Day to day operational forms and documents: The case study also drew from

the information contained in many day to day operational forms and documents used in the company such as progress reports, assessment sheets and so forth

6. Audit reports: The author also referred in detail the various internal audit

reports about the UAE national development submitted by both the internal audit department as well as external parties such as shareholders

7. Focus groups: Focus group interviews were conducted by the author with the

developees in each field location on a periodic basis to collect feedback. The observations and data collected through these focus groups were also used for developing the case study.

8. Internal Surveys: The results of the various internal surveys such as the employee engagement survey were also referred.

4.5.1.2 Data analysis procedure employed for the case study

Data analysis for case studies is considered are more complex and difficult by many researchers. Much of the data collected for case studies are qualitative and therefore are not amenable to normal statistical analysis and tests. The methods available for analysing the qualitative data tend to be influenced by the subjectivity of the analyst or researcher. Moreover, data analysis and data collection tends to go concurrently in case studies rather than one after the other. Perhaps due to the unique nature of data analysis in case studies, the issue is often approached from different perspectives by different authors.

The approach presented by the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) in one of their transfer paper on case study analysis is frequently quoted in the literature on data analysis and case study analysis(GAO, 1997). According to this framework, there are six general ways of analysing case study data (GAO, 1997).

They are as listed below:

1. Iterative: Data collection and analysis are concurrent and goes through iterative steps

2. OTTR: The sequence of data collection and analysis iterations takes place in a sequence of events abbreviated as OTTR which stands for ―Observe, Think, Test, and Revise‖.

3. Triangulation: Comparison of multiple, independent sources of evidence before deciding there is a finding

4. Rival explanations: Develop alternative interpretations of findings, and test through search for confirming and disconfirming evidence until one hypothesis is confirmed and others ruled out

5. Reproducibility of findings: Establish through analysis of multiple sites and data over time

6. Plausible and complete: Data analysis ends when a plausible explanation has been developed, considering completely all the evidence

7. Specific techniques for handling multi-site data sets: Matrix of categories, graphic data displays, tabulating, frequency of different events, developing complex tabulations to check for relationships, and ordering information chronologically for time-series analysis

GAO (1997) states that out of the six data analysis methods listed above, four are essential to case study analysis. These essential methods, namely iteration, OTTR, triangulation, and ruling out rival explanations, were applied for developing and analysing the case study in this research. The remaining three methods in the above list were not applied in the current study.

The issue of data analysis in the context of case studies can be also approached from other perspectives. For example, authors often approach this issue on the basis of analytic techniques such as content analysis, interpretation, taxonomical analysis, hermeneutical analysis and so forth (e.g., Manon, 1990, Spradley, 1980, Weber, 1990). It may be noted that the current study did not limit to any specific technique or school of thought for analysing the data related to case study. From this perspective of approaching the issue of data analysis it may be stated that the current

study used a combination of three most widely used methods namely logical analysis, interpretation and taxonomical analysis.

GAO(1997) presented another framework on case study data analysis. According to this framework, there are two basic models of data analysis namely pattern matching and explanation building. In pattern matching the researchers specifies what they expect to find based on their past experience, logic, or theory. The analysis then compares actual findings to expectations and when the findings fit, the pattern is confirmed. If the findings do not fit, then the researcher the evaluator adjusts the expectations or elaborates them to explain the unexpected findings. According to GAO(1997), explanation building is the inverse procedure which starts with the observations. Based on the observations and data, the evaluator develops a picture of what is happening and why. In summary the pattern matching, matches findings to hypotheses or assumptions where as the explanation building, uses the data to structure the hypotheses or assumptions. Given these definitions, it may be stated that the current study adopted more of pattern matching method for analysing the data. The author first had developed a pattern of factors which may be facilitating and hindering the localisation of workforce based on past experiences, a detailed review of literature and logical reasoning. The case study was then analysed against this pattern to check whether they fit or not. The results of quantitative data also supported this process.