Research Approaches

Data gathering is one primary task involved in researching. One of the aims of research method is to collect appropriate data and knowledge to support the points and answer the questions. Qualitative research subsumes several diverse research methods that differ from each other considerably (Silverman,1993). Due to the nature of research topic and availability of research resources, there are five major research methods/approaches are employed in this research;

82 x Case study

x Ethnography/ participant observation, x Qualitative interviewing,

x Language-based approaches to the collection of qualitative data, such as discourse and conversation analysis,

x The collection and qualitative analysis of texts and documents

Case study

The case study is a major research method in this research. This method is also a non-experimental, descriptive type of study. It involves an in-depth descriptive record, kept by an outside observer who is an individual or a group of individuals. As per the research topic, this research focuses on the case of New Zealand Couriers, which is Freightways' flagship brand, is positioned as the premier provider of network courier services to New Zealand businesses. Since 1964 New Zealand Couriers Limited has been the leading Courier Company. Case study is one of the significant qualitative research methods, tending to provide in depth information and intimate details about the particular case being studied. This is an excellent way to determine how policies have an effect on society at the micro level, and also to see if theories have the predicted outcomes on the individual level (Bryman, 2007).

Advantages

Case studies are particularly useful when researchers intend to get a detailed contextual view of an individual's life or of a particular phenomenon. In the social sciences they are often used to help understand the social and familial factors that might be part of the development of some form of deviant behavior in an individual. Natural scientists might use this method to study a single animal or a single instance of some physical phenomenon. Case studies are also useful when researchers cannot, for practical or ethical reasons, do experimental studies. (Bryman, 2007).

83 The advantages of case study also includes:

x Developing analytic and problem-solving skills

x Allowing for exploration of solutions for complex issues

x Allowing student and audience to apply new knowledge and skills

Disadvantages

First and foremost, this is a descriptive method, not an explanatory one. That is, without the controlled conditions of the laboratory, conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships cannot be drawn. Behavior can only be described, not explained. Case studies also involve an individual or just a few and therefore may not be representative of the general group or population. The social sciences case studies often rely on descriptive information provided by different people. This leaves room for important details to be left out. Also, much of the information collected is retrospective data, recollections of past events, and is therefore subject to the problems inherent to memory (Bryman,2007).

The disadvantages of case study also includes:

x Insufficient information can lead to inappropriate results x Irrelevance to own situation

x The phenomena that as a researcher observing the specimen closely, the specimen is likely to change their behavior

x Not appropriate for an elementary level

The problems and limitations with the case study are in regards to generalizability/ external validity and intersubjectivity/ replicability. In other words, since the researcher is studying a limited case or group very deeply, it is hard to apply what is learned to society in general. For example, in Elija Anderson's book Code of the Street; he does a qualitative case study of inner city society in a particular area of Philadelphia. Since he spent many months studying this one particular neighborhood, he got a lot of rich information about this group (Bryman, 2007). New Zealand Couriers is a typical 3PLs company, which directly deals with hundreds and thousands of

84 other companies, and the findings have high level of external validity. Therefore New Zealand Couriers is selected as the research case to increase the level of external validity in this research. Intersubjectivity/ replicability have to do with the nature of qualitative research itself. Since it involves observation, interaction, interview, or content analysis of a particular case, most of the interpretations are made based on the opinion of the individual researcher. In other words, if two different researchers spent a day in a local park, watching other people come and go, and taking notes of things these two researchers found significant or interesting about how people behaved, the things one researcher noted may be very different from what the other researcher noted. This is because each individual make decisions and judgments based on his/her own world view. Also, since these types of studies are so random and based on observations of events as they happen, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to replicate them in a different study. When other researchers cannot replicate a study, there is no way to determine if the findings are accurate. Therefore the intersubjectivity/ replicability may be a limitation in case study.

However the limitations can be minimized by redesigning case study. For instance this research focuses on the different types of return model in chapter 5 rather than the specific company, in order to increase the replicability and validity of research. And discussing relationships in the 3PLs reverse logistics based on the abstract designed model (Figure 5.15) rather than certain examples. Redesigned case study in this research could significant improve the reliability, replicability and validity.

And there are several reasons that New Zealand Couriers has been selected in this research; x Firstly, the site was chosen on the basis that a recent decision had been made to optimize

the return/ reverse logistics services in New Zealand Couriers.

x Secondly, due to the research topic and questions, New Zealand Couriers Ltd is a typical third party logistics company, also provides the return/ reverses logistics services to various customers. It is an ideal example of 3PLs in logistics industry.

x Thirdly, due to the availability of research resource, there is limited time and fund to explore a number of different organizations. As exploring and understanding a logistics

85 company is time consuming, normally each logistics company has its own background and operations system. Researcher has been working in New Zealand Couriers for about three years, which is an advantage of using New Zealand Couriers as research case.

x Fourthly, due to the reliability, replicability and viability in this research, the findings identified in the typical 3PLs Companies New Zealand Couriers could be widely implemented in other companies. Redesigned case study concerns the common return/ reverse logistics modes (chapter 5) rather than the specific companies.

x Finally yet importantly, due to lack of the accessibility, there are few large-scale logistics companies in New Zealand, and most logistics companies are competitors in market. Some information and data, which need in this research, is business confidential. Therefore, it is difficult to access several different logistics companies at the same time.

Ethnography/ Participant Observation

This is another important research method which is used in this research. The observation is based on the research topic and research questions. As mentioned in 4.4.1, the case of New Zealand Couriers has been selected in this research; therefore the observation concerns both micro level such as relationships, affects, efficiency, etc. and the macro level such as practical issues, phenomena, documents, etc. The research approach-- case study allows researchers to deeply observe and investigate the details and problem in the case. The seven different types of return/ reverse logistic models in New Zealand Couriers are identified and categorized during the observation. And also the operations and return/ reverse logistics procedures are based on the observation in practices.

86 Qualitative Interviewing

Qualitative interviewing is one of the major research methods in qualitative research, and there are several various personnel have been involved in qualitative interviewing, such as managers, colleagues, and customers. Due to the research questions and objectives, there is no formal interview was needed in the thesis. However the data and knowledge from informal interviews, meeting and conversations during work have been widely adopted in the research, such as the knowledge of seven types of return / reverse logistics mode in New Zealand Couriers was from this method. The effects and relationships in return/ reverse logistics are also generalised from the knowledge and information gained by this research method.

Language-Based Approaches to the Collection of Qualitative data, such as Discourse and Conversation Analysis

Language-based approaches are major methods in qualitative research. Moreover, due to the nature of this research, the language-based approaches play a significant role in this thesis. According to pervious researches, some very important findings were identified by the language-based approaches. As people see, the return/ reverse logistics is different from other traditional subjects. Reverse logistics is emerging and very new, and there is limited available resource and references for current research. Therefore, the language-based approaches are very significant tools to explore the new thing. The discourse and conversation analysis is used to investigate the return procedures and the impacts of uncertainties in Chapter 5.

The Collection and Qualitative Analysis of Texts and Documents

This is one of the most significant methods to collect and analyse the information from existing companies and organisations. Various kinds of information and data has been collected and used

87 in this case study. Most data are originally from New Zealand Couriers Ltd so that audiences can have a better understanding about this company, such as the history of New Zealand Couriers. Thanks to the people who contributed the valuable knowledge, the financial statement of the Freightways Group in Chapter 5 is finished. The information and data could support the case study and actual findings in this research.

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4.5

Research Process

There are several different models of the research process, most of which are devised according to a series of stages, for example, Cohen and Manion (1994) identified eight stages of action research, which appeared rather scientific in approach. Other representations of the research process include one with five stages of research form showing design, sampling, data collection, data analysis and the report is presented by Blaxter et. al. (Blaxter, 1999). This seems to be a rather over-simplification of a long and complex process. According to the actual situation and research questions, the Alan Bryman and Emma Bell (2007)’s main steps of qualitative research process is adopted in this research.

According to Alan Bryman and Emma Bell (2007), the sequence outlined in figure 4.1 provides a representation of the qualitative research process in this research. This qualitative research process is a general guide, which is used to conduct this research. Six main steps in this qualitative research process are indicated as below.