Narrative approach

The defining features of narrative, in reference to its use in social science, is that it ‘organises a sequence of events into a whole so that the significance of each event can be understood through its relation to that whole’ (Eliot 2005: 3). Eliot proposes three key features of narrative – chronological sequences of events, connection of events in meaningful way and development for a specific audience.

Regarding narrative approaches to the analysis of data, Eliot (2005) suggests while there is no standard approach, researchers tend to use three different focuses. The first of these is the temporal nature of social life (Elliot 2005: 36). The second focus is an evaluative or subjective dimension and thirdly; a focus on the social processes surrounding the production and consumption of stories (Elliot, 2005: 37).

Content or form can be analysed in the narrative, but most social research will involve an interest in both. The use of holistic analysis of narrative can be progressive (the story of advancement, achievement or success) or regressive (a course of deterioration or decline) (Elliot 2005:48).

In this study, the progressive approach was deemed most appropriate for telling the sustainability story of the case study products. Narrative was used as an evaluative tool and allowed the pulling together of attitudinal data and physical outcomes related to sustainability in each supply chain through the use of ‘product narratives’ discussed below.

4.5.1 Product narrative

The term product narrative was developed independently as an explanation for the product story for each supply chain but a literature search for this term revealed prior uses. Morey and Miller (2004:6) in their chapter “Forget Reality – Perceptions Rule” use the term in describing aggressive business strategies for new products which include providing the full story of the product development and the values behind it:

…early adopters.. want to see the “product narrative” on the label; they are looking for a unique character and values in the areas of development, manufacture and ingredients.

The term product narrative is also associated with advertising where narrative strategies are targeted to attract consumers with particular values and lifestyles. Advertising narrative techniques where the story of the product is used to sell the product include print and TV media and “advertorials” generally constructed to maximize profits (Huisman et al. 2005:7)

Narrative as an ideological product which expresses particular worldviews and arises out of particular social situations and interactions is not dissimilar to ‘product narratives’, where the products and their associated values also express worldviews and represent particular social situations.

Elliot 2005:50 quotes the following from Plummer (1983) which could be considered as providing argument for the use of ‘product’ for a synonym of ‘story’:

Story (.i.e. product) production and consumption is an empirical social process involving a stream of joint actions in local contexts themselves bound into wider negotiated social worlds.

Plummer (in Elliot 2005) argues that stories (or in this interpretation, products) can be used to maintain the status quo or can have an emancipatory function, transforming individual lives and the wider culture (in Elliot, 2005:50). This interpretation is appropriate for this study where the range of stories communicated by case study product chain actors represent approaches that both challenge and conform to the status quo.

Second order narratives, which are distinct from individual or first order narratives and are used to ‘make sense of the social world and other peoples experiences (and) present social and historical knowledge’ (Elliot 2005: 13), were the obvious choice for the product narratives.

Czarniawska’s (1998:20) discussion of the use of narrative in organisational studies is relevant for the understanding of product narrative used in this study. She discusses the products of organisations such as reports, services, social relations and economic facts:

… all these products must be connected as a meaningful whole. Although statistics are some of the ways of such connections, the narrative is the dominant one. Narrative...and the process of association… builds the connections between actions and events and the readers.

This statement can be applied to the use of product narrative with the readers being the consumers.

In summary, the use of product narrative is based on the premise that products are socially constructed through interactions with supply chain actors and therefore the sustainable properties of those products are also a construction which can be captured through the stories of those products.

Combining adaptive and narrative theories

Combining the adaptive theory and narrative approaches does not appear to present any conflicts. Strauss and Corbin (1998) advocate the use of descriptive narrative or ‘storyline’ as a technique to aid integration. They note the following (1998:148):

One way to get past the impasse (of having a gut sense of what the research is about but not being able to articulate it) is to sit down and write a few descriptive sentences about what is going on here…Eventually a story emerges.

Interview techniques for narrative and adaptive theory are complementary as are data analysis techniques as discussed later. Examples where both approaches have been used include Swatton and O’Callaghan (1999:413) who used grounded theory to generate and analyse six participant’s life narratives in their counselling psychology study. This study considered the impact of ‘healing stories’ in the life narrative. Grounded theory coding analysis of participant accounts revealed three categories which explained experiences of turning around difficult life events. These categories were then used to develop a narrative representation of the effects of ‘healing stories’ and a resultant theory; Swatton and O’Callaghan (1999: 427) summarise the process:

…experience of the healing stories was constructed from data grounded in the participants lived experience … It provides a sense of central themes indicating a theory.

Combining the grounded theory and narrative approaches in analyzing interview data required a number of steps. Table 2 shows interaction between narrative and grounded theory analysis to form the product narrative.

Table 2: Interaction between narrative and adaptive theory

Narrative Adaptive Theory

1.Thematic analysis to piece together data from each set of supply chain interviews to form a plot and story outline and themes for each supply chain actor.

Identify data that relates to the themes

identified 2. Open and axial coding of interview data

3.Selective coding of data 4.Themes that emerge from the informants'

stories are pieced together to form a comprehensive picture of their collective experience – i.e. the product narrative

5. Development of ‘descriptive story’ and storyline memos – integration of core categories and concepts

6. Further coding, model and theory development

In summary, narrative was used as a way to collect and evaluate the ‘sustainability stories’ associated with each supply chain. The next section considers the development of adaptive theory in this study.