Procedures: Data Collection and Timing of the Case Interviews

Interviews of course would be significant. Overall, the sources are regarded as ‘cumulative’ so that the findings obtained would be as robust as possible.

Table 3.6 Approaches to Case Studies in the Australian Accommodation Hotels: Interviews and

Document Analysis

 1. Interviews (open-ended conversations with key informants in three competitor hotels)

 2. Direct observations (observations of work situations)  3. Archival (managerial records)

 4. Physical artefacts (e.g. computer printouts of customer data)  5. Documents (e.g. internal ‘flyer’, emails, reports, articles)

 6. Participant Observations (identified as researcher, but also filling a real-life role in the situation being studied)

Source: Adapted from Yin, 2006.

Each item in Table 3.6 will be addressed next.

1. Interviews: The interviews need to be arranged, along with participants briefing about the interview process and research protocols. Included in the briefing would be a broad theoretical definition of CE terminology. Interviews would commence with a broad question in CEM asking interviewees to discuss their role describing how they manage their customers as a firm’s asset.

The procedure for undertaking the interviews involves:

 Interviewing experienced managers in several different size and type of hotels in two major Australian cities, Brisbane, Queensland and Perth, Western Australia.

 Follow a semi-structured interview approach to be adopted in a manner that fits the way the interview is progressing (Brenner, 1985; Fontana and Frey, 1994). Owing to the commercial-in-confidence sensitivities present, interviews will be hand scribed in front of and in agreement with the managers;

 Following-up with questions after interview, in revision, for clarification purposes, further understanding and probe (by phone and email to the managers), is in line with Denzin and Lincoln’s (2000) work on interpretive research and analysis as on-going. In addition, Miles and Huberman (1993), refer to analysis during and after data collection in field research as cyclical, going backwards and forwards between thinking about the data and generating new ideas for collecting new information, often leads to better quality data. This is expected to be the case in this research, with the researcher ‘getting-better’ each time with a view to obtaining ‘thick’ descriptions (Geertz, 1973) of data analysis throughout;  The researcher’s reflections post interview on the results as a whole, will

assist in cross-case analysis. This will need to cover the practicalities of delivering customer value from the managers’ perspectives, and as Langley (1999) notes with regard to the principle of theorising from process data, the chance or opportunity for discussion of any rival theories that might emerge from the data.

2. Direct Observations: Where an opportunity presents in interview, direct observations of work situations would be invaluable. For example, a ‘site-visit’ of the hotel and its amenities, along with a view to understanding the role and responsibilities of the hotel managers could be very interesting and informative. 3. Archival Records: Specifically company internal documents that relate to the CLV of customers, customer surveys such as feedback evaluations, reviews, or special commissioned reports internal to the hotel such as a marketing plan, or external such as the Smith Travel Research might reveal some interesting insights into CEM in the hotel(s).

4. Physical Artefacts: These relate to spread sheet information, computer printouts and models of how CE is managed in the hotel currently. This type of information would be of particular use in hotels that have ‘sister’ companies or are in networked ‘sharing-of-the-information’ structures.

5. Documents: Information of a more general variety which includes advertising and promotional material, reservations data, customer rewards and loyalty information, would be the likely sources requested of the managers. Travel agents who are commissioned by the hotels, domestic and international, the hotel managers could enlighten in the interviews discussions.

6. Participant Observations: Whilst not expecting to undertake any direct role in the hotels where observations of ‘reality’ could be experienced directly, there could be an opportunity that might arise. To witness demonstration of an activity in CEM directly, would be highly informative.

The Approach used to record the interviews without an audio tape The peculiar challenge of note taking in interview is that of:

(i) note taking which becomes the recording of the field data; (ii) while being an active participant in the meeting; and also (iii) observing and listening to what is going on (Yin, 2009).

Understanding and anticipating that audio transcripts might receive some resistance in the interviews with the hotel managers, the following approach to record the interviews followed from Yin’s (2011) recommendations. They are:

1. Trying to Record Everything versus Being too Selective.

According to Yin (2011), between these extremes lies a golden mean. This meant taking sufficient notes to support the later analytical and compositional aspects of the study.

2. Highlighting Actions and Capturing words Verbatim.

This means gaining an understanding of the environment and focusing on the managers as participants in interview, rather than taking copious notes. Concentrating on ‘listening’ is more important than attempting to detail every word said verbatim. The goal is to ‘get inside the managers’ heads and be open-minded in the process’.

3. Remembering your Research Questions.

With a formal interview protocol developed, this would enable open-ended questions to be asked at commencement and throughout the interviews, without any fear of forgetting ‘where we are at’ at any given time. This protocol would be handed to the managers, so that they could see the progress in the interview process.

3.3.6 Methods of Analysis

In the interviews to be conducted, some key assumptions for analysis have already been made as a result of the research questions formulated, and the case(s) themselves identified, with the main motive for undertaking the research to address the CE strategies and data techniques directed at the research questions. To identify patterns between hotels in the findings, it will be important to compare and contrast responses, also known as the technique of pattern matching. For example, the managers’ responses to questions regarding how they acquire and retain their customers (the strategies), will be matched with their responses to ‘how’ and ‘why’ they use the type of customer data in their hotels.

The next step will be explanation building, which attempts to make sense of the patterns and identify cross linkages and pathways between specific question responses. Explanation of CE management includes answering the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the research questions posed in chapter two.

For this research, the challenge of doing analysis stretches one important step further, that goes well beyond just selecting and planning for a particular analytical technique. The presentation of analysis can interact with the structure or composition of the case study (Yin, 2006). To report the findings in this study, each hotel case will be checked for accuracy of the transcripts from each manager interviewed, then analysed separately by detailing the reporting of the cases (Van Maanen, 1995). To assist with this, the hotels’ names coded as explained in the sampling section 3.3.4, will be sorted and arranged in a way that assists in giving meaning and insight into the cases. The researcher’s own reflections and perspectives incorporated into the analysis and reporting that is effectively recursive in nature, would also add the most value in this process.

The final stage in this section is the discussion and reporting of findings in cross-case analysis, leading to generalisations about the characteristics of an effective CE management environment. Detailing the reporting of the cases would be with the

machine learning tool Leximancer version 4.0, for coding purposes, sorting and arranging the data to be used in the analysis. An interpretation based on evidence from multiple cases as previously stated would be regarded as more compelling than the results from a single case. By comparing the cases in the accommodation hotel sector, the range of generality can be established and at the same time pin-down the conditions under which those findings occurred (Glaser and Strauss 1967; Miles and Huberman, 1993; Yin, 1994). The aim in totality is to achieve synthesis in the study as predesigned. An examination of two groupings envisaged (Chain/Resort as one and Independent as the other) for cross-case patterns (analogous to cross-experiment interpretations) will be argumentative and interpretive, (not numerically based).

3.3.7 Ethical Considerations

Phase Two has the same ethical provisions as Phase One as approved by the QUT ethics committee (level 1, low risk). Ethical considerations regarding the qualitative interviews with the managers consider the same QUT’s privacy statement and confidentiality agreement(s). There are no issues that are going to be of a sensitive business or personal nature that would be invasive to the interviewee. The ethics clearance number remains the same as in Phase One, 0900001182.

3.4 Conclusion

This chapter has focused on case study methodology as the most appropriate vehicle for traversing the issues in CEM. There are two component parts in the approach. The first component framed as Phase One examines the CE strategy and data management variables in an investigative, exploratory way through a survey to be analysed through SPSS initially, and then through CART and MARS models more comprehensively in non-parametric design. The aim in Phase One is to inform Phase Two.

The second component framed as Phase Two comprise interviews and document analysis in qualitative research. The aim in Phase Two is to investigate several discrete typical cases in the accommodation hotel sector with a view to obtaining confirmatory information that would be presumed replications of the same

phenomenon (Yin, 2006). Cross-case analysis is expected to contribute to triangulation of the data and complete the study. The next chapter details the results of Phase One.