Guided Conversations

The next step taken was to formally commence holding conversations with all levels of staff within and outside of the organisation, and as mentioned, at which point the observation method became less participatory (i.e. there were more direct observations) but, still, intertwined with the other methods (for example, the field trips were a combination of conversations and direct observations) (Yin 2009). However, one advantage of interviews is the ability to ‘focus directly on case study topics’ and to gather insights that are not available, for example, in documents. However, Yin (2009, p. 102) also lists several potential weaknesses, which are: inherent bias in both the question and the response, poor recall and, being told what is perceived to be the ‘correct’ answer (response bias). However, according to Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007, p. 28) these issues, especially bias, can be dealt with by selecting interviewees from a range of sources, as follows.

Informants can include organizational actors from different hierarchical levels, functional areas, groups, and geographies, as well as actors from other relevant organizations and outside observers such as market analysts. It is unlikely that these varied informants will engage in convergent retrospective sense making and/or impression management.

In this study, the ‘range of sources’ (e.g. visits and interviews, stated in Table 3.4 below). That is people at different levels (of seniority and length of service), in several places, and within and outside the case organisation were interviewed, as follows.

Table 3.4 Contacts made with staff at all four major Australian food banks

Food Bank FareShare OzHarvest Foodbank SecondBite Case

No. of visits 3 1 1 4 23 No. of interviewees 2 3 1 2 8 No. of respondents 2 2 1 2 10 No. of different sites 1 1 1 4 2 No. of different seniority levels 2 2 1 2 4

However, as there was a tendency for many respondents to simply restate the stated aims of food banking (i.e. reduce food waste, feed hungry people) rather than to respond to the specific questions (especially on audio tape and especially about food industry waste issues), a less formal approach was taken (see Table 3.5 further on below for the details). Also, while visits to the donor organisations that support food banks were not in the scope of this study, on several occasions, when making observations during field trips, the investigator was freely invited into several food donors’ operations (e.g. Harvest Moon, Lion Nathan) to interview staff. This afforded an opportunity to confirm or realise several lines of enquiry about the nature of both the good will and the profit motives within the food supply chains containing food banks that had been alluded to in the food banks visited. In sum, interviews with employees and volunteers involved seeking verification or clarification of the food bank’s operations (as per the relevant issues), but also flexibly taking the interviews in the direction in which it was most productive (Yin 2009).

A combination of documentary and conversational methods was employed, as follows. The personal electronic business diary (spanning the years from 2008 to 2015) of the founder of the case study organisation was interrogated with the assistance and cooperation of the founder on

gleaned by a way of viewing the diary entry against the guided conversation points and cross- checking with other sources (see ‘Triangulation’ below). That is, if there was an irrelevance or an uncertainty about an entry’s content or its purposes, the entry was disregarded as case evidence. The full procedure relating to the interview method was as follows.

3.4.2.1 Recruitment of Participants

The interviewees were recruited through direct contact within and outside of the four purposively selected food banking organisations of interest from which the case was selected in its real world food banking sector institutional context. Interviewees from outside of the case organisation were approached formally (similar to and at the same time as the procedure for ‘Selection of cases’). ‘Internal’ case study food bank interviewees were approached personally after gaining the in-principle support of management to approach staff as required. All interviewees were provided with an outline of the study in the form of an information sheet along with a consent form (a copy of the consent forms is attached as Appendix Bi).

3.4.2.2 Number, Organsational Roles and Contributions of Interviews

There is no set number of interviews for case study research, but as a guide, the ideal number of interviews for PhD theses is considered to be around 22, consisting of three or four interviewees at different organisational levels (Perry 1998). However, in this case study as a result of the small size of the organisation and freely available other sources of case evidence (e.g. the availability of detailed documents and diaries and the willingness of staff to facilitate observations in several locations in great detail) A total of 10 respondents provided 28 types of interactions that are detailed in Table 3.5 below.

Table 3.5 Details of Respondents

Respondent Position No. of

interactions Type Comments Respondent A Specialist manager 9 Semi-structured interviews (6), conversations A founding manager providing in-depth knowledge and documentation of the food bank ‘start-up’ and subsequent strategic priorities Respondent B General manager 5 Semi-structured interview (1), conversations A senior manager in charge of strategic direction Respondent D Specialist manager 2 Semi-structured interview (1), detailed observations/conversations Provided details of current and future planned value adding strategies Respondent F Board member 2 Semi-structured interviews, Explained sector-wide and local issues and challenges. Provided detailed information about collaborative shared value activities Respondent G Staff member 2 Detailed observations, conversations

Detailed the process of donating and receiving surplus food along with issues arising from a paid employees viewpoint Respondent H Senior manager

1 Semi-structured interview Provided detailed information about regional food bank start-up and contemporary priorities and issues Respondent O Operations manager 2 Semi-structured interview (1), detailed observations/conversations Detailed knowledge of implementation of supply chain operations. Assisted with mapping surplus food (shared value) supply chain Respondent

N

Senior manager

1 Semi-structured interview Gave insights into issues of dealing with leading food and grocery supply chain members over time Respondent Q Operations manager 2 Semi-structured interview (1), detailed observations, conversations Explained operations and sector issues and mapped alternative, case contextual shared value chain

Respondent W Volunteer staff member 2 Detailed observations, conversations

Detailed the value added activities from an operational viewpoint 3.4.2.3 Interview Procedure

The interviews were all conducted in person and on-site at food banks, food donor premises or in vehicles on-route, with some follow up work undertaken by telephone and/or email. After providing a brief overview of the purpose of the study, the details of the interview procedure were fully explained to the interviewee. The explanation started with informing the interviewee of their rights (as set out in the relevant attachments) and of the obligations and the duties of the investigators including, but not limited to, the interviewees right to decide against participating and to answer questions only in a manner in which they feel comfortable or to decline to answer any particular questions. The consent form was explained and presented and signed accordingly and all interviewees willingly went ahead with their interviews. At first all interviewees were given the option of audio recording or not audio recording the interview but it became apparent that only very senior level participants agreed to their interviews to be recorded (i.e. two). Subsequently, due to the nature of the research and the nature of the situation the interviews were not audio recorded, but the notes taken were systematically stored and were available for viewing by interviewees. That is, the interviewees were offered a copy of the notes and the opportunity to comment upon and or correct any errors and/or remove any particular data. The interviewee was asked if they were satisfied with the procedures and were reminded of the provisions of their agreement to participate (i.e. confidentiality, privacy and opportunity to review the transcript).

3.4.2.4 Identifiability of the Data

The information collected is of a general and not personal nature about the professional views of interviewees involved in food banks about food banking. In any event, the confidentiality of

the participants was protected by not disclosing any detailed participant data and personal information to other parties other than the investigator, particularly in any subsequently published material, without their prior written approval. This condition also applies to any observations or documents of a potentially sensitive nature that were viewed to which have been referred but the details of which have not been made publicly available.