Primary Data – Exploratory Study

Development of a simulation-based framework for AFPSC planning requires a thorough understanding of how modelling and simulation approaches are employed for planning AFPSC in literature, in particular, the decision-making aspects they address. It is therefore of utmost importance to attain the perception of management on these aspects and to examine their interpretation for the different planning decisions and performance indicators discussed in the literature. A qualitative research method in the form of interviews is selected to convey the experiences and views of AFPSCs’ managers and experts on planning and decision making. Ultimately, this study is undertaken to acquire the required information to identify the vital relationships, operations, planning decisions and performance metrics within AFPSC organisations. This was indispensable in the development of conceptual models for AFPSC structure, processes, and decision making.

3.6.1.2.1 Semi-Structured Interviews

Conducting the literature review as a secondary data source proved helpful in gaining an overview of the research topic in highlighting the current gaps in research. As indicated in chapter two, AFPSC planning models suffer from inefficient integration between the three decision-making levels (i.e., operational, tactical and strategic) in these models. The available models that attempted to address integrated planning were found to lack the ability to address the complexity and dynamism involved therein. This is because they force the simplification

address integrated planning complexity not only for agri-fresh produce organisations but also for the SC.

More extensive investigation of the decision-making process in the context of AFPSC was required to provide an in-depth understanding of the different decisions across the three planning levels and how these decisions impact each other. Moreover, there is also a need for a deep understanding of the primary operations that exist at each AFPSC entity and the most critical performance indicators that management need to track. Hence, interviewing as a qualitative data collection method was chosen to satisfy these requirements.

The advantage of interviews is that it provides researchers with data that focus on individuals’ experience through interactive dialogues (Mason 2002). Such experience cannot be obtained using other methods such as surveys. There are three categories of interviews, namely: structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews (Berg, Lune, and Lune 2004). Structured interviews are based on a set of identical questions asked in a predetermined order to all interviewees and usually offer the respondents a fixed range of answers. They are similar to surveys and are often used to collect quantitative data from interviewees (Bryman 2015). Semi-structured interviews provide more flexibility to the researcher to adjust the order of the predetermined set of questions with the ability to ask new questions according to the respondents’ answers. They allow the emergence of new ideas and insights during the discussion with the interviewees (Tong, Sainsbury, and Craig 2007). Unstructured interviews are more like informal conversations between the researcher and the interviewee without any predetermined questions. In these interviews, the researcher drives

the questions and asks them according to the development of the discussion and the interviewee’s answers (Miller et al. 2001).

In this phase, semi-structured interviews are selected as the primary data collection method for the exploratory study. The rationale behind this selection was to ensure controllability of the interview to uncover the most crucial decision-making aspects and central operations within agri-fresh produce organisations. This allowed a level of freedom for interviewees to respond organically and added more insights regarding issues that might not be captured by predetermined questions. This allowed a balance between planned and unplanned questions and reduced the time needed for data analysis.

Twelve managers and experts from various agri-fresh produce organisations were interviewed during this phase to study their experience in planning and decision making for their business and to discover more insights about how this business is running and how it is connected with other partners and customers. The interviews also aimed to highlight the critical factors that impact operations within the agri-fresh produce organisations. These factors were the base for providing scope and direction for the development of the integrated planning framework. In an attempt to build conceptual models for AFPSC structure, operations and the decision-making process, interview questions focused on identifying:

1) operational, tactical, and strategic decisions in agri-fresh produce organisations; 2) performance indicators that these decisions affect;

The crucial benefit of these interviews was the realisation regarding the most critical aspects, components, building blocks and types of data required to be considered in the framework development phase (Phase II).

All the interviews were conducted face-to-face with the interviewees and each interview lasted for approximately 1 to 1.5 hours. After each interview, the data was transcribed and summarised for the analysis which allowed the extraction of essential and relevant information. Since the data was not too onerous, it was processed and coded manually by the researcher. This allowed for more focus on the in-depth meaning of the data through iterative reading and analysis. Once all the interviews were completed, an overall comprehension of the whole narrative was constructed, moving from particular to general (Miller and Crabtree 1992). This was followed by the development of three conceptual models (Chapter 4).