Comparative analysis of research methods in Operations Management: a

Having brie‡y reviewed the research strategies identi…ed as the usual ones in Operations Man- agement, in this section we shall go on to conduct a comparative analysis of the di¤erent techniques.

Case study is one of the most appropriate methodological strategies for addressing a phe- nomenon that has undergone little research up to the present or when it is wished to address an already studied phenomenon from a new perspective. So, case studies can be: (a) of an exploratory nature when little is known about the phenomenon and the research is looked on as an initial approach to the object of study; (b) of a descriptive nature when on completion of the study the phenomenon has been characterised; and (c) of an explanatory nature when case study involves such a thorough examination of the phenomenon and its context that the researcher can infer the underlying causes of the phenomenon under study. Therefore, case study is a highly suitable strategy when research questions are of the type, How? (description of a phenomenon that has been little researched up to present) or Why? (explanation of the underlying causes behind a speci…c phenomenon). Since case study encourages a direct contact between the researcher and the reality being researched, it constitutes an appropriate strategy when it is wished to move forward to generate new knowledge regarding a speci…c phenomenon. Likewise, action-research generates direct interactions between the researcher and the real- ity being researched. For the same reasons, (in-depth knowledge of the phenomenon in its real context), the action-research approach is a good method to generate new knowledge. However, let us not forget that action-research has a dual aim and the research project not only seeks to increase the corpus of scienti…c knowledge but also aims at intervening in the studied re- ality to cause its transformation (to trigger a process of change). From an academic point of view, the action-research approach can be used to tackle the same research questions as case study research: How? (describe) and Why? (explain). The main di¤erence between the two research methods lies in the researcher’s level of participation. While in action-research the researcher is part of the reality under study and intervenes in that reality in order to bring

about change (agent of change), in case study research, researchers are "passive" entities: their role is that of an outside observer, who, from the boundaries of the organisation, examines how the phenomenon unfolds without intervening and without triggering any change with their research (at least, not deliberately). The role of the researcher is therefore very di¤erent in one or other of the research strategies. In case study, the researcher has no control whatsoever over the events or the acts of the persons in the organisation, while in action-research it is to some extent possible to steer the course of events and observe if the resulting behaviour is indeed what was to be expected. For this reason, action-research is more akin to a clinical experiment where the researcher maintains a certain control over the system under study and changes some parameters of the experiment to con…rm that the system does indeed perform as expected.

Therefore, it may be concluded that case study as well as action-research are appropriate strategies for addressing research of a descriptive or exploratory nature. As both strategies are based on an in-depth examination of a speci…c phenomenon within a real context, both methods subsequently present di¢ culties when it comes to generalising the results, as such results are understood to be speci…c and embedded in the context. The challenge to be faced by the researcher in both cases is the way to overcome the barriers that are restricting the possibility of extending the proposed theories and attempt to generalise the results to the highest possible number of circumstances. In whatever case, the results provided by well-designed case study research or action research projects constitute pieces of empirical evidence contributing to support the postulated theories.

Survey research is a method based on quantitative techniques provided by statistics. Process- ing the information in line with well established …xed rules agreed by the scienti…c community lets the researcher generalise the …ndings from a limited set of observations to the population as a whole (statistical inference). Survey research can also have various objectives. It may be: (a) of an exploratory nature when a better understanding of the chosen topic is sought on which there is no prior theoretical framework; (b) of a con…rmatory nature when there is an existing theoretical framework and it is simply a question of checking the concepts and relationships postulated, by measuring to what extent the variables are interrelated; and (c) of a descriptive nature when the distribution of a phenomenon in a population is described. In this case, instead of being directed towards “How?” or “Why?”, the research question is more oriented towards

quantifying either the intensity of the relationship among variables in con…rmatory-type studies or the frequency with which a speci…c phenomenon is found in a population in descriptive-type studies. Therefore, the research questions that are best adapted to survey research are questions that ask “How much?”

The other quantitative approach research strategy is related to the models and techniques inherent to operational research. In this case, it is sought to construct mathematical models that will explain (at least partially) the behaviour of the processes arising in the area of operations or which will allow detecting (at least partially) the decision-making problems that managers have to confront in real life. A model is used to try to predict the future behaviour of the system (descriptive models) or to capture the essence of the decision-making problems and provide rules to facilitate decision-making in the organisation (normative models). Therefore, quantitative models are an adequate strategy in research projects that approach design decisions (what-if) or that aim at furnishing a rule for making a decision when faced with a particular situation.

The main di¤erence between quantitative models and survey research lies in the fact that the former can be used to predict the future state of the modelled processes. That is to say, they are not con…ned to describing and explaining the observations made on reality, as is the case with surveys.

The Table 3.1 summarises the issues approached in this sub-section. The Table also serves as a guide to orient the researcher towards the most appropriate methodology or combination of methods in accordance with the questions initially asked in the research.

3.3.3 A holistic conception of the research process in the area of Operations