This study is an attitudinal research, by which the involvement of the participants is the primary focus (Spurlock et al. 2008). Based on this approach, information from the participants is the primary source and valuable for gaining insights about ship maintenance from the shipping companies. Secondary data have been utilised for establishing the background theory of the study. The following discussion explains the use of secondary and the collection of primary data for this research including the data collection method to be used.
5.5.1
Secondary data collection
Among the various data collection methods available (see Cooper & Schindler 2011; Spurlock et al. 2008; Veal 2005; Zikmund 2010), this research has utilised the secondary data collection method through the use of available literature in the area of supply chain management and maintenance management. Both areas
comprise academic and business articles, reports, electronic web information and journals. In terms of the theory background for this research, the literature in both areas has been used to reconfigure the construct of the service-oriented supply chain management approach to be investigated.
In terms of population generation, as discussed in the previous section, secondary data from various sources were utilised to develop a database of shipping companies in Indonesia. Some government websites such as www.dephub.go.id,
www.bumn.go.id and association websites such as www.insa.or.id were visited to establish the data. Some shipping companies, particularly the major shipping companies in the Indonesian shipping industry (see section 5.4.2), provide assessable proprietary data such as annual reports, brochures and the structure of the organisation. However, the majority of the shipping companies listed do not provide this detailed information, only company address and fleet. Furthermore, information sharing about maintenance management does not yet appear to be part of the culture (Plomaritou, Plomaritou & Giziakis 2011; Veenstra, Zuidwijk & Geerling 2006). No previous study on ship maintenance management in Indonesian shipping companies was found. Accordingly, this research was also prepared to collect primary data in order to accomplish the research objectives.
5.5.2
Primary data collection
The sample population and the constraints of the current research, a questionnaire- based postal survey appears to be the most viable method for completing this research. This method is capable of providing an efficient data collection process from the wide-spread geographical dispersion of the large number of the sample
population (Aitken et al. 2004; Cook, Dickinson & Eccles 2009; Cummings, Savitz & Konrad 2001; Kanso 2000; Sahlqvist et al. 2011; Ziegenfuss et al. 2012). Using this data collection method will allow the researcher to contact the participants at a relatively similar time by posting all the surveys at once.
The postal survey method has been criticised as being lacking in researcher control (Owens 2005). However, the lack of researcher control also provides the advantage of preventing bias from interviewer influence during the data collection process (Cooper & Schindler 2011; Larson 2005; Larson & Poist 2004). A questionnaire-based postal survey also provides anonymity which in turn allows participants to complete the survey at their convenience (Schirmer 2009). Furthermore, the data collection project through postal survey has been accepted as the most cost-efficient method (Aitken et al. 2004; Cook, Dickinson & Eccles 2009; Gattellari, Zwar & Worthington 2012; Holland et al. 2010; Larson 2005; Terpend, Krause & Dooley 2011).
The other data collection methods available in the literature include experiment, observation, case study, interview and web-based survey (Cooper & Schindler 2011; Dillman, Smyth & Christian 2009). The experiment method is not suitable due to the exploratory nature of the current research. In exploratory research, no controlled behaviour should be attempted in obtaining genuine attributes of the phenomenon to be explored (Cooper & Schindler 2011). Observational research requires researcher to visit the sample in certain period of time (Holmes & Bloxham 2009). Attending each location of the geographically dispersed 230
shipping companies involved in this research may result in excessive cost and time to complete the research.
In term of case studies, the current research is explorative in nature in order to obtain insights into the shipping companies rather than to observe detailed phenomena regarding a certain management type of ship maintenance of the company. In most case study research, the researchers rely on a single company – a case – to collect necessary detailed data for their research (see Alsyouf 2007; Anette von 2008; Bamber, Sharp & Hides 1999; Bechtel & Patterson 1997; Beresford, Pettit & Liu 2011; Chan et al. 2005). To make generalisable conclusions about the phenomena being researched, several study cases are required to be contrasted (Veal 2005). Whilst collecting data from 230 shipping companies using study case requires the researcher to deal with one company at a time, the postal survey allows him/her to deal with all of the companies during one relatively similar time period. The mail survey will prevent bias in terms of different time and business environment during the data collection process. Accordingly, a case study method is neither suitable nor viable for undertaking primary data collection for the current research.
The other available research methods are the interview and web-based survey. The interview method includes face-to-face and telephone survey. The time consuming and cost issues make the face-to-face method not viable in conducting data collection of this research. There are constraints of time, finance and facilities for the researcher to complete this study. For the web-based survey, accurate participants’ email addresses and participant’s accessibility to internet are
critically required in order to be able to undertake these data collection methods (Dillman et al. 2009; Dillman, Smyth & Christian 2009; Ward et al. 2012). As discussed in the sampling section (see section 5.4.3), the email address and company’s website of the shipping companies are not always available. In addition, there is the issue of internet infrastructure which is not yet fully developed in Indonesia and should be taken into consideration (Elliot 2012; Hermana & Silfianti 2011).
Both issues of incomplete database and internet access difficulty create coverage bias issues in relation to internet connectivity coverage, accessibility to the targeted participants or undelivered surveys resulting from malicious emails control or wrong email address (Cobanoglu, Warde & Moreo 2001; Dillman, Smyth & Christian 2009). Another weakness which stems from the incomplete database concerns the sample representativeness and sample participant quality, sample control and diversification (McConkey, Stevens & Loudon 2003). These methods are not applicable to accommodate this study in order to address the research objectives.
The poor quality of the telephone directory may create coverage bias that prevents the utilisation of telephone interviews for data collection purposes (Díaz de Rada 2011; Tuckel & O'Neill 2002). Telephone interviews also suffer from inaccessibility and unwillingness issues, barriers due to automatic answering machines, declined calls, interrupted interviews and interviewer bias (Díaz de Rada 2011; Tuckel & O'Neill 2002). In addition, conducting interviews with 230 participants would become a time-consuming task for collecting the data.
Furthermore, with regard to the researcher’s location in Australia, at the Australian Maritime College, excessive cost may be encountered for doing the intended interviews due to international direct dialling charges when contacting the 230 participants in Indonesia.
As indicated earlier, there is limited time, funding and facilities available for the researcher to complete the current research. Accordingly, conducting a questionnaire-based postal survey becomes the most suitable and viable option to undertake the data collection project. The perceived benefits of postal surveys, the characteristics of targeted participants, the limited timeframe, funding and facilities underpin the choice of this mode of survey for primary data collection in the current research. Furthermore, the use of postal survey should enable flexibility in geographical coverage, a low-cost survey method (compared to phone or face-to-face), prevention of interviewer variability and a level of convenience for the participants to complete the survey. The following section discusses the development of the research instrument and the questionnaire in order to address concerns about undertaking postal surveys to capitalise on the benefits whilst anticipating the weaknesses as indicated in the literature.