Data Collection Method

This study is constructivist, using comparative case studies in a qualitative design. The research questions concern the state of e-commerce use by Saudi retailers, their acceptance and intentions regarding e-commerce, and the environmental constraints on the firms. According to Yin (2012), having multiple sources of data will enrich the qualit y of a case study. He suggested there are six data collection techniques for qualitative studies: interviews, archival records and direct observation are the three most common tools for data collection method in qualitative study. According to Foddy (1993) interviews are the only way to obtain accurate information about people and their beliefs, experiences, attitudes, values and motives. For this study, in-depth interviews were, therefore, a major data collection method used to identify and compare the factors relating to Internet use by retail firms. Moreover, archival records, such as company and government reports and website visits were also used to enrich the quality of the data collection.

In-depth interview questions also allow the flexibility to gain further insight into organisational and other contextual issues (Creswell 2013). The interviewer can prepare a set of questions in advance, and then conduct the interview in a conversational and open manner to obtain in-depth information on the topics discussed (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009).

Prior to the data collection process, the literature on e-commerce, motivation factors, technological factors, organisational factors, environmental factors, innovation in family

94

business, and the benefits of e-commerce to the organisation were reviewed. An interview schedule was then created using the literature, the conceptual framework, and the research questions. The focus of the interviews was to study managers’ and executives’ experiences in order to explore and gain a deeper understanding of the benefits that arise from a range of different organisational, technological, and environmental factors. The interviewer followed a general interview protocol consisting of key questions (Appendix A). The following section discusses the research procedure, which explains how this research was conducted.

4.4.1 Research instrument

Verbal data collection requires a structure for the interview questions in order to gather valid data to respond to the research problem (Lewis & Nicholls 2014). Lewis and Nicholls (2014) pointed to the need for a structure that incorporates succeeding points of comparison, both in an absolute sense of evidence, and to build trends in the responses of the study participants. For this study, a total of 23 open-ended interview questions were created from the review of the literature and the contextual chapters (Appendix A). The firms’ websites provided further information which was continually monitored during the course of the study.

The questions were designed so that they did not need to be asked in sequence in order to ensure that new concepts and areas of potentially valuable data could emerge from the responses. This also ensured that the flow of the interview would not be interrupted (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009).

According to Bryman (2008), pretesting the interview protocol will enhance the quality of the questions, and increase the confidence of the researcher. Thus, the interview questions were tested in pilot interviews with two managers in separate Saudi organisations to ensure that the questions were relevant, comprehensive, and easily understandable for the participants. Moreover, the research questions were validated by both peers and academics to test the clarity of the questions and for the translations between English and Arabic when this was necessary.

Ethics approval for the study was obtained from the university prior to commencement. As noted above, an introductory letter and a plain language statement were sent to the respondents to introduce the purpose and objectives of the research. They were also informed that the researcher obtained ethics approval from the university, that their

95

identities were confidential and the interviews were voluntary, and that they could withdraw from the study at any time during the discussions (Appendix B). All the data, including the anonymous transcriptions, are securely retained by the university.

4.4.2 Interviewing

The researcher contacted 28 companies in the Saudi retail industry to participate in the study. During the discussions, the researcher provided his name and role in the study, his affiliation, and the sponsoring body for the research. He also explained the purpose and benefits of the research, as well as why the particular company was selected to participate in the research. Finally, the participants were assured of the confidentiality and anonymity of their details. Some of the firms requested to review the interview questions before agreeing to participate in the study, while 22 other companies refused to participate in the study. After each firm agreed to take part, an appointment was made to conduct the interview with the managers.

According to Marshall and Rossman (1995, p. 83), “elite individuals are considered to be influential, the prominent, and the well-informed people in an organization or a community and are selected for interviews on the basis of their experience in areas relevant to the research”. Based on Marachal and Rossman's (1995) recommendation, the participants were selected according to their level of management and role in e-commerce projects, whether that were a decision maker or helped in the decision-making and their level of involvement in and responsibility for the success of a project. In addition, the snowball strategy was used by obtaining a list of contacts and recommendations from one manager at the company about other managers who met the researcher's criteria. The researcher then contacted the participants and asked them to take part in this study.

The interviews took place in the participants’ premises, and each interviewee was again advised of the purpose of the interviews, how the interview would be conducted, and then assured of their anonymity. The plain language statement, which included information about the estimated interview time, and permission for the interviewer to record the interview and take notes, was signed by each participant (Appendix C). General opening questions on neutral social topics were also used to put the participant at ease (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009).

Following the ideas of Robson (2002), the interviews were guided by a list of questions that were designed based on the conceptual framework, literature review, research

96

questions and objectives. The interview questions were grouped under several categories based on the TOE framework and the organisations’ benefits from e-commerce usage (see Appendix A). Later, this classification was used to analyse the findings.

The interviewees were allowed the space to explore the themes aided by probes and prompts as necessary by the researcher. Notes were taken of particular interesting points and responses. At the end of the interview, each participant was invited to make further comments on the content or conduct of the interview, with each interview session lasting for approximately two hours.

Five executives in different roles were selected for interview. In total, 21 face-to-face interviews were conducted across the four cases and one member of SCCI. SCCI representative was to explain e-commerce situation in the country generally and retail industry particularly. Also, to identify companies that could meet the study conditions in terms of e-commerce adoption level. The interviews were conducted between October 2011 and February 2012 with further follow-up correspondence, mostly by email and telephone, to clarify any issues that may have arisen from, or unclear sections of, the interviews. This continued almost to the end of the data analysis and write-up stages of the research. Table 4.1 shows each company’s e-commerce levels and interview characteristics. The large company in this study is an organisation with more than 1,000 employees. However, the small company in this study is a member of large supply chain.

Due to the language barrier, all but three of the interviews were conducted in Arabic. The three remaining were conducted in English because the participants were non-Saudis. The recorded interviews were transcribed in the original language and then translated, apart from the three already in English. After this, the transcribed data were then systematically coded into themes for detailed analysis.

In the days between the interviews, the researcher listened to the interviews that had previously been recorded, and transcribed them verbatim. As part of this process, the researcher referred to his notes about non-verbal gestures from his reflexive journal. The researcher listened to the interviews again while reading the transcripts of each to ensure the accuracy and thoroughness of the transcripts. Listening to the recorded interviews helped the researcher to relive the interviews and generate insightful and analytical comments. Also, transcribing the interviews at an early stage, rather than waiting until the end of the data

97

collection period, helped the researcher to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of lengthy interviews to be transcribed.

4.4.3 Challenges with data collection

One of the obvious challenges in research is gaining access to respondents. The researcher contacted 28 companies to take part in this research; however, most of them refused to take part because they were not familiar with the importance of the research generally, and some companies believed that it was not important or useful for them.

Furthermore, some companies believed that the researcher was a member of a government agency that was overseeing business and observing any legal problems associated with the Saudization employees’ rates.

Therefore, the researcher spent much time finding companies to agree to participate. The researcher used his relationships and friends to gain access to some of these companies. Companies A and D directly agreed to participate after many telephone calls had been made to convince them to take part, while Companies B and C took several weeks before they agreed to participate in the study.

Another challenge faced was that a number of the participating managers refused to answer some of the interview questions, particularly those regarding the role of government in enhancing e-commerce in the country despite the researcher asking the questions in different ways and explaining the confidentiality of the data collection to them.

98

Table 4.1Characteristics of participant organisations