Data Collection Methods

There are two main approaches to gather information about a situation, person, problem or phenomenon, namely through secondary and primary sources. (Kumar, 2011:138). Secondary and primary sources that were used are depicted in Figure 3.2.

CS Number SD&L Number

Total Staff 123 Total Staff 62

General Manager 1 General Manager 1

Senior Managers 4 Senior Managers 4

Commodity Managers 24 Middle Managers 19

Figure 3.2: Data Collection Methods Source: Adapted from Kumar (2011:139) 3.9.1 Secondary Sources

Secondary data were collected mainly from Eskom, namely Eskom’s corporate plan, annual reports, GC reports, Eskom’s strategic sourcing and supplier development documentation, National Treasury publications, articles and books.

3.9.2 Primary Sources

Data collection consists of questionnaires, interviews, observation, testing and artefact analysis (Bertram & Christiansen, 2014:72). The literature review indicates that both questionnaires and interviews were largely used by the researchers reported on in Chapter 2. As a result semi-structured questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with key informants were used. The questions contained in the questionnaire (Appendices D and E) and interview schedule (Appendix F) were systematically organised to achieve and respond to the research objectives and questions of Chapter 1.

I. Questionnaire

Questionnaires can comprise of either closed-ended or open-ended questions (Kumar, 2011:151) or a combination of the two. Close-ended questions refer to questions which dictate to respondents how to answer the questions from a set of options or categories. To the contrary, open-ended questions provide a broad choice to answer questions and require analytical and critical thinking from the respondents, as possible responses are not prescribed.

The classification of questions in the questionnaire, whether closed or open-ended, is directly linked to the type of questionnaire whether structured, semi-structured or unstructured. Semi-structured questionnaires were sent to commodity managers and middle managers through their email addresses accompanied by a cover letter (Appendix C). The anonymity of respondents was partly compromised since there is often interaction with them and email addresses are known to the researcher.

However, the respondents were encouraged not to disclose their names on the questionnaire. In Table 3.5, advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires (Kumar, 2011:148-149) are highlighted.

Table 3.5: Advantages and Disadvantages of Questionnaires

Advantages Disadvantages

 It is less expensive in respect to time, human and financial resources.

 It offers greater anonymity particularly where sensitive questions are posed which ultimately enhances the likelihood of obtaining accurate information.

 Ability to administer to a large number of people.

 Information can be captured into a computer programme and responses counted in each category.

 Standardised questions control the amount of information from respondents.

 Access to a large group of geographically scattered respondents within a short period of time.

 Application is limited as it cannot be

 Opportunity to clarify issues is lacking if there is misunderstanding of questions by the respondents.

 The response to a question may be influenced by the response to other questions.

 Possibility to consult others which may dilute expression of respondents’

opinions.

Source: Adapted from Kumar (2011:148-149).

A questionnaire was designed not to take more than 30 minutes to complete to maximise response rate. The questionnaire was split into two sections. The first section had questions about the respondent’s gender, age group, work experience in Eskom and strategic sourcing, work experience prior to them joining Eskom, highest qualifications and internal training programmes.

The second section of the questionnaire covered open-ended questions that were divided into four sub-sections (A, B, C, and D) with its headings, as presented in

Table 3.6: Section Two of Questionnaire Sub-section Heading of Subsection

A Current state of strategic sourcing (SS) and supplier development (SD) at Eskom.

B Role of SS and SD in Eskom.

C Collaboration between CS and SD&L.

D Processes, systems and practices in Eskom.

II. Interviews

Nieuwenhuis (2007:87) defined an interview as a data collection tool in which the interviewer and the participant engage in a two-way and purposeful conversation. It is a structured and focused conversation between the researcher and the participant with an agenda and schedule of questions to be answered (Bertram & Christiansen, 2014:80). The advantages and disadvantages of an interview are underlined in Table 3.7.

Table 3.7: Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews

Advantages Disadvantages

 More appropriate for complex and sensitive situations.

 Useful for collecting in-depth information by probing from a small number of people.

 Information can be supplemented through non-verbal communication observed and interpretation of the tone of the respondent.

 Presence of the researcher during the interview process.

 Possible wider application with any population: children, the handicapped, illiterate or very old.

 Moreover, in interviews researcher has direct control over the flow of primary data collection process and has a chance to clarify certain issues during the process as need arises.

 Generally provide vast amounts of rich and useful data for further analysis.

 Respondents often see interviews as opportunities to voice opinions.

 Interaction of the respondents with the interviewer rather than writing long responses in a questionnaire.

 Time consuming and expensive.

 Quality of data depends upon the quality of the interaction.

 Quality of data depends upon the quality of the interviewer.

 Quality of data may vary when many interviewers are used.

 Power relations can influence the interview process.

 Generate large amount of textual data which lead to difficulties in analysis stage.

 Subjective elements such as own behaviour / beliefs which needs verification.

 The researcher may introduce bias in framing of questions and interpretation of responses.

 The respondent may be too close to the project being researched and tends to be more subjective and defensive. This would affect the quality of data.

 The respondent may also be evasive in answering the questions.

 It might also be difficult to restrain the respondent who might take a different angle in answering the questions thereby providing information not useful to the interviewer.

Source: Kumar (2011:149-150)

There are three different formats of interviews, namely structured, semi-structured and unstructured (Saunders et al., 2012:374; Kumar, 2011:145), as shown in Table 3.8 together with some characteristics of each.

Table 3.8: Types of Interviews

Structured

 Use predetermined and standard or identical set of questions in the interview schedule.

 Used to collect quantifiable data.

 Requires fewer interviewing skills.

 Provides uniform information which assures comparability of data.

Semi-structured

 Non-standardised and frequently used in qualitative research.

 Contain a list of themes and key questions.

Unstructured

 Prevalent in both quantitative and qualitative research.

 Complete freedom provided in terms of content and structure.

 Commonly informal.

 No predetermined question.

 Prevalent in both quantitative and qualitative research.

 Dominantly used in qualitative research.

Source: Adapted from Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2012:374) & Kumar (2011:145)

Semi-structured interviews were chosen as the most appropriate data collection instruments with executive management as it allowed participants to engage, share opinions and beliefs with the interviewer during face-to-face interaction. An interview schedule was designed to collect primary data. The interviews were audio recorded after permission was granted by participants and transcribed afterwards. Handwritten notes were made during face-to-face interviews to record main points and nonverbal communication. The fact that the executive management was selected and probing occurred in the interview process, ensured that the richest data was obtained from participants. Demographic information such as job title and experience in the case company, amongst others, was collected per interviewee. The demographic information was consistent with the questionnaires administered with commodity managers and middle managers which enabled meaningful data analysis.

The interviews followed a top-down approach where general managers were interviewed before the senior managers. The interview process was convenient and saved travelling costs as all participants were based in one geographical workplace.

Interviews were scheduled to take a maximum of an hour at the case company’s head office, Megawatt Park in Sunninghill, where all the interviewees are located.