Conducting semi-structured interviews

The first contact to potential interviewees was either by telephone, or by face-to-face conversation. When the potential interview partner informally agreed to be interviewed – the interview partner was officially invited to the research via email. The interviewees got the following information (see Interview documents) with the invitation email:

 Research information letter

 Interview agenda

 Interview protocol structure

 Informed consent form

With the invitation email, potential interview partners were informed that it was the goal to audio record and transcribe the complete interview. Twenty-three potential research participants were invited. Twenty-one research participants agreed and two

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interview candidates declined to be interviewed. The two candidates who declined to be interviewed did so due to legal and compliance considerations. The interviewing started in March 2012 and ended in October 2012. All interviews were conducted face- to-face and in English. Twenty research participants were interviewed once. One interview participant was interviewed twice due to time constraints during the first interview. The total number of conducted interviews was unspecified at the beginning of the interview invitations since the actual number of interviews to be conducted was influenced by the theoretical sampling and saturation approach (see section 4.6.5.). At the beginning of the interview, the option was offered that if audio-recording was rejected, then written notes of the interview would be taken instead. No interview partner rejected audio recording. Additionally, research participants were given the option to end the interview any time. One research participant ended the interview before all questions were asked due to time constraints. Another interview was conducted with this participant three weeks later and all questions were answered during the second interview. The interviews took place in a quiet location free from disturbances (Creswell, 2007, p. 133) and at a location which was convenient for the interview partner. The overall interview session was scheduled for 120 minutes, whereof the actual interview was scheduled for 90 minutes. Most interviews were completed within the scheduled timeframe with the exception of three interviews, where the actual interview was conducted within 150 minutes. The interview partner were asked to complete and sign an informed consent form at the interview location (Creswell, 2007, p. 133).

To answer RQ1 and RQ2, research sub-questions (Creswell, 2007, pp. 109, 133) were asked. Figure 4-4 is a simplified version of Figure 4-3 and shows the process of the development of the research sub-questions. Figure 4-4 illustrates how the initial research sub-questions were derived from the initial analysis of the literature, and the development of the provisional conceptual framework, and that the research sub- questions were adapted due to the theoretical sampling approach (see section 4.6.5). In appendix 3, an example is provided how the research sub-questions were developed from the initial categories to the final set of research sub-questions. The final set of research sub-questions were:

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1. When switching ITO providers– how important is it that success is defined for the transition? And what is the definition of success for the transition?

2. When switching ITO providers – who should define success?

3. When switching ITO providers – what are project management success criteria for the transition?

4. When switching ITO providers - what factors contribute to a successful knowledge transfer during the transition?

5. When switching ITO providers - what factors contribute to a successful transfer of key experts during the transition?

6. When switching ITO providers - what factors contribute to a successful mixed mode – temporary multi-sourcing during the transition?

7. When switching ITO providers - what factors contribute to a successful integration of the new provider production team during the transition?

8. When switching ITO providers - how important are experienced external project resources for the success of the transition?

9. When switching ITO providers - how important is trust for the success of the transition?

10. When switching ITO providers – what factors contribute to a successful escalation management during the transition?

11. When switching ITO providers – what factors contribute to a successful project communication (communication of change)?

12. When switching ITO providers - what factors contribute to a successful transition strategy?

13. When switching ITO providers – what other factors contribute to a successful transition?

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Figure 4-4 Development of research sub-questions (developed for this thesis)

There was sufficient space for notes between the questions on the interview protocol. With the consent of the interview partners, all interviews were audio-recorded. Additionally, notes were taken on the interview protocol sheet in case of an audiotaping failure (Creswell, 2009, p. 183). Although Glaser (1992) suggested that it is sufficient to transcribe only the first interview, and Davidson (2006, p. 40) warned that high costs are associated with the transcription – all interviews for this research were transcribed, directly after the interview (Maxwell, 2005, p. 110). The transcript was sent to the interviewees for final review. Creswell (2007) highlighted the possibility that interviewees share "information ‘off the record’ "(p. 142). All interviewees were asked

Data gathering Data analysis

Conduct-semi structured interview (take notes &

audio record)

Transcribe interview

Perform coding

Develop concepts and categories Write memos and perform

constant comparison

Perform theoretical sampling

Further theoretical

sampling needed?

No – categories/themes are saturated

Conduct initial literature review

Develop provisional conceptual framework

Develop research questions and research objectives

Develop initial research- subquestions

Develop initial research- subquestions

If required, adapt research sub-questions

Yes – categories/themes are not saturated

Answer research questions and develop conceptual

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to indicate "off the record information". After the indication of "off the record" information by one interviewee, the indicated "off the record" information was deleted, so that it was not part of analysis. The transcripts/notes are electronically stored and the software package NVivo 10 was used to facilitate the coding, comparing and memo- writing process (Creswell, 2009, p. 188). The names of the interview partners have been anonymised (Creswell, 2007, p. 141). Names of interview participants will not be published and audio-records and transcription material will be destroyed after the thesis is finally approved.