Interview protocol

This research adopted in-depth semi-structured interviews in order to investigate particular issues in their own context. The advantage of conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews is that they are rather open-ended, while still keeping the conversations focused on certain topics (Yeo et al., 2014). This means that the interviewer usually allows the interviewees to elaborate further to a certain extent (Yin, 2014). The interview protocol entails five

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stages: arrival and introduction, introducing the research, beginning the interview, during the interview, ending the interview and after the interview (see Table 4.2. adapted from Yeo et al., 2014).

The arrival and the introduction stage of the interview protocol is a vital stage of the interviewing process, because interviews are usually conducted in the interviewee’s chosen place which is usually their offices or their homes, although the researcher is actually the one who hosts the event and has the job of setting the tone of the interview. At that stage, the researcher needs to make sure that the interviewee is ready to start the interview by taking the interview guide questions and asking where the interviewee prefers to conduct the interview as well as checking the length of time they have available (Yeo et al., 2014).

In this research study, the researcher conducted all interviews in the interviewees’ business offices. All the necessary greetings and customs were formalised prior to the beginning of the interview. It proceeded by taking out the Interview Question Guidelines sheet (see Appendix 6), the Invitation Letter, the Information Sheet and the Participant Consent Form. The researcher then explained the importance of signing the Participant Consent Form prior to starting the interviews (see Appendix 7 for a sample signed form).

The researcher also asked the interviewees if they were happy for the interviews to be audio recorded as well as explaining the reasons for doing so. The researcher also reassured interviewees that such audio recordings would be kept locked in a cabinet at the University of Salford that would be accessible only to the researcher. All interviewees had no objection to signing the form nor for the interview to be audio recorded apart from eight interviewees who preferred leaving it solely for notes taking rather than being audio recorded.

The second stage of the interview protocol, according to Yeo et al. (2014), is to introduce the research. This stage is when the researcher introduces the aim and the objectives of the research as well as affirming the importance of the

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interviewees’ participation to the overall aim of the research. The researcher is also required to revisit the interviewees’ rights of pulling out of the research without giving any reasons for withdrawing and that the interview is voluntary. This assists the interviewee to make sense of the research and should awaken their memory with regard to the context of the research. The researcher should also consider introducing some ground rules, such as explaining to the interviewee that the interview is not survey-based and that anything they would like to elaborate on further could be vital to the outcome of the research.

For this research, the researcher introduced the research aim and the objectives and explained the voluntary nature of the research. The researcher also stressed the importance of elaborating further on issues that would be raised during the interview by giving examples of instances that had happened during the implementation project. This included affirming that the interview process is voluntary and that the interviewees had the right to pull out of the interview at any time without giving any reason. In addition, the researcher emphasised the confidentiality and the anonymity of the interviewees in order to establish more relaxed interview conditions.

The third stage of the interview protocol involves asking the interviewee general background questions such as their age and employment status. Asking such questions at the beginning of the interview gives the researcher a chance to obtain some psychological insights about a particular interviewee. It helps in determining how conservative the interviewee is about sensitive information, as well as whether they are willing to share it with someone who they have just met (Yeo et al., 2014).

Each interview was started by asking the interviewees about their age and employment status. Employment status included asking a few questions about the length of time they had held their position and the previous job that they held and so on. Most interviewees had held their jobs in their respected organisations for more than five years. One interviewee had been granted a job offer from the organisation under study after gaining management trust when he participated in implementing the Materials Management (MM) Module of

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the ERP for the organisation under study whilst being initially part of the implementers’ team.

The fourth stage of the interview, according to Yeo et al. (2014), is the stage when the researcher guides the participant through the pre-identified key themes, as well as elaborating further on themes that have developed as a result of the interview. The researcher should at this stage allow most of the conversation to come from the interviewee, because in that way the researcher reduces the bias of the collected data and gives the interviewee the freedom to brainstorm their thoughts so that the maximum amount of in-depth data results.

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Stage Criteria

Stage 1: Arrival and introduction

Establish an initial rapport; host the interaction by taking responsibility for making it friendly and positive

Stage 2:

Introducing the research

Seeking informed consent: aims, objectives, voluntary, confidential; scope of the interview: but the participant is in control of what they disclose; no right or wrong answers, hearing their perspective in their own words

Stage 3:

Beginning the interview

Contextual background information: for reference in interview and to set the tone

Stage 4: During the interview

Breadth and depth of coverage

Stage 5: Ending the interview

Give some advance notice; End on a positive note: suggestions and recommendations

Stage 6: After the interview

Thanks for participation: value of their contribution; how the information will be treated and used; be prepared to stay to help the change of mode back to the everyday; listen out for doorstep data.

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While the interviewee gives their interpretations and opinions regarding certain issues, the researcher ought to stay focused by showing interest in what is being said. Losing focus will result in the researcher not being able to formulate another question with regard to issues that are raised by the interviewee. Such question formulation is one of the most productive aspects of in-depth semi-structured interviews. In addition, the loss of focus by the researcher will reduce the interviewee’s willingness to talk, which will result in less vital information being provided.

In this research study, the researcher let the interviewees do most of the talking whilst paying attention to what was being said. By keeping track of what was being said, the researcher managed to derive several questions as an outcome of what had been said by interviewees. The researcher had also made sure to ask the interviewees to elaborate further on certain issues in order to address the themes that were identified prior and during the interviewing process.

The fifth stage of the interview protocol is to end the interview, which entails asking a question that starts by declaring that it would be the last one. Ending the interview in that manner gives interviewees a chance to rethink all the issues that had been covered and this could be beneficial for awakening the interviewees’ thoughts on certain matters that had been discussed previously. The researcher might then have a chance of getting the attention of the interviewee to elaborate further on a previously discussed issue because they are aware by now that the interview is about to draw to an end (Yeo et al.,

2014).

The researcher finished all interviews by asking interviewees how their participation on the ERP implementation project had helped them career-wise. Such a question was vital to awaken each interviewee’s thoughts because it involved talking about themselves and talking about the impact that such participation had had on their career. Talking about personal experiences and career-related aspects let interviewees go back to issues that were already investigated previously by giving out more instances and incidents that had

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happened. This final question helped in enriching the insights of the phenomena under investigation.

The sixth stage of the interview that was identified by Yeo et al. (2014) is after the interview. At this stage, the researcher expresses their gratitude for the interviewee’s participation in their research. By doing so, the researcher shifts the participants away from the interview mode and into a more social friendly mode. This shift enables the participant to ask questions that they were thinking about during the interview. At this stage of the interview, participants might put in their final reflections about certain issues that were raised during the interview. It also gives the researcher time to ask the participants if they have any documents that they are willing to share, such as minutes of meetings, email exchanges, reports, etc. with regard to issues that were raised during the interview.

The researcher made sure that interviewees were left feeling good about themselves by thanking them repeatedly and affirming that their contribution was vital to the outcome of the research. The researcher also managed to ask about the opportunity to obtain documents with regard to instances and incidents that had been mentioned during the interviews. Four of the participants gave the researcher a variety of documents which are discussed in section (4.8.9.). The four participants who shared a variety of closely related documents also gave the researcher more time to read their archival records of the ERP implementation project under investigation, as explained in section (4.8.10.).