Data Collection 150

According to Yin (2003) there are six possible sources of evidence for case study: documents, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant-observation, and physical artifacts. (The data for the two UAE case study companies were collected using semi-structured interviews.) Table (26) shows the types of evidence and their strengths and weaknesses.

Table 26: Types of Evidence (Yin 2003)

Source of evidence Strengths Weaknesses

Documentation *stable - repeated review

* Unobtrusive - exists prior to the case study

* Provide exact names, etc.

* Broad coverage - extended time span

* Retrievability difficult. * Biased selectivity

* Reporting bias - reflects author bias * Access - may be blocked

Archival Records * Same as above

* Precise and quantitative

* Same as above

* Privacy might inhibit access Interviews * Targeted – focuses on case study

topic

*Insightful – provides perceived causal inferences

* Bias due to poor questions * Response bias

* Incomplete recollection

* Reflexivity - interviewee expresses what interviewer wants to hear

Direct observation * Reality – covers events in real time * Contextual – covers events’ context

* Time-consuming

* Selectivity - might miss facts

*Reflexivity – observers’ presence might cause change

* Cost - observers need time Participant observation * Same as above

*Insightful into interpersonal behaviour

* Same as above

* Bias due to investigator's actions

Physical artifacts * Insightful into cultural features * Insightful into technical operations

* Selectivity * Availability

Documents can be letters, memoranda, agendas, administrative documents, or any document that is germane to the investigation. In the interest of triangulation of evidence, documents serve to corroborate the evidence from other sources. Documents can lead to false leads in the hands of inexperienced researchers, which has been one criticism of case study research. Archival documents can be service records, organizational records,

list of names, survey data and other such records. The investigator has to be careful in evaluating the accuracy of the archival documents and even if the records are quantitative, they might still not be accurate. Interviews are one of the most important sources of case study information. There are several forms of interviews that are possible: open-ended, focused and structured or via a survey.

Direct observation occurs when a field visit is conducted during the case study. This technique is useful for providing additional information about the topic being studied and its reliability is enhanced when more than one observer is involved in the task. Participant-observation makes the researcher into an active participant in the events being studied. This technique provides some unusual opportunities for collecting data, but can face some major problems. Physical artifacts can be tools, instruments or other physical evidence that may be collected during the study as part of a field visit. Not all these sources are relevant for all case studies; the researcher should be capable of dealing with all of them, should it be necessary, but each case will present different opportunities for data collection. In this research, the researcher collected the data using semi-structured interviews, as well as data from other sources of evidence as discussed above.

The researcher tested and validated the proposed framework through the multiple case studies of two UAE companies by interviewing high and middle level managers who were highly experienced, well-educated and knowledgeable about information technology and its use in their companies and also by looking into the companies’ documents and archival records, and their vision, mission and strategy. A reminder notice reminding them of the forthcoming interviewwas sent to all the selected participants one week after the original contact so as to encourage participation. This action increased the response rate. The interviews involved a variety of questions which focused on assessing the resistance factors for new technology and on finding available evidence to support the validity of the refined framework. However, not all questions were absolute; some depended on the participant's answer. Firstly, the researcher assessed each factor according to the participant’s answer and then the participant was asked for evidence to support their opinion.

Table 27: Source of evidence

Level (3) Level (2) Level (1) Factors

Study of the company vision, mission and strategies to see which of the key drivers is more important than the other.

No evidence to show the key drivers in the company documents

Interviewing high and middle level managers. Which of the two key drivers for technical change in the company is the most important or which comes first?

Key Drivers

for technical change.

1-Corporate evolution 2- Technological development

Level (3) Level (2) Level (1) Factors

Study of the company vision, mission and strategies and policies for the ways adopted to overcome resistance to change.

Investigating the companies’ documents, records, etc. to find information on their system of rewards, their training programmes and

the means of

communicate between the top management and the employees.

Interviewing high and middle level managers which factors are mostly adopted by the company for overcoming the resistance

of employees to

technological change.

Factors which are used to overcome resistance to technological change. 1- Rewarding the employees. 2- Training programmes. 3- Communication between management and employees.

Level (3) Level (2) Level (1) Factors

Study of the company vision, mission and strategies for job performance

Investigating, using the companies’ documents, records, etc. for evidence of these factors as the

Asking the participants (managers) which of these factors contribute most to

job performance

Factors which contribute to job performance effectiveness.

effectiveness and the factors stated to be adopted to attain this objective.

main contributory factors contributing to

employees’ job

performance resulting from the adoption of new technologies.

effectiveness as a result of the adoption of new technologies. 1- Improvement of work quality. 2- Accomplishing work tasks quickly 3- Eliminating errors 4- control of work 5- Improvement of work performance 6- Enhance effectiveness on job.

Level (3) Level (2) Level (1) Factors

Study the vision, mission and strategies for reasons for resistance to technological change by top management.

Documents, records, letters etc.

Investigating the documents and records for signs of resistance to technology by the management.

Interviewing high and middle level managers about these two reasons for management's resistance to technological adoption.

Reasons for management’s

resistance to change.

1- High cost of change.

2- Fear of loss of power and control of work in the company.

Level (3) Level (2) Level (1) Factors

Study the company vision, mission, and strategies for the expression of values relating to conflict solutions.

Investigating the two factors relating to conflict in the companies’ documents and records.

Interview

Asking high and middle level managers about conflict factors (lack of appreciation and need for security) between the employees’ expectations and the company’s values.

Cultural factors

Conflict between employees’ expectations and company's values as related to technological change.

Psychological factors

1- Lack of appreciation. 2- Need for security.

Look in the companies’ strategies for the demographic factors (age, experience) being expressed as factors important in technology adoption.

Investigating the impact of the demographic factors (age, experience) on technology adoption by the company.

Interviewing managers

concerning the

demographic factors (age, experience) of employees as related to their opinions about technological adoption. Demographic factors 1-Age 2- Experience Behavioural factors 1- Job satisfaction

5.6 Company A: Case Study