3.1 Introduction
The research design is “a logical plan for getting from here to there, where here may be defined as the initial set of research questions to be answered, and there is some set of conclusions (answers) about these questions” (Yin, 2009, p. 26, emphasis original). The research methodology is defined as “the procedural framework within which the research is conducted” (Remenyi et al., 2005, p. 285). It is “an operational framework within which the facts are placed so that their meaning can be seen more clearly”
(Leedy, 1989, p. 98).
The following sections describe the research design and methodology used in this thesis to get from “here” to “there.” They include discussion of research paradigms relevant to business and management research (section 3.2). The research methods including the multi-case study and survey methods are then presented (section 3.3), and shown to be compatible with the methods used in the extant DC literature (section 3.4).
The research setting and context are then described (section 3.5), the sample design previewed (section 3.6), and the research ethics are discussed (section 3.7).
3.2 Research Paradigms
A research paradigm includes underlying assumptions such as the intellectual structure and/or framework upon which research and development of the field of inquiry is based (Kuhn, 1970). It is a general perspective, a way of breaking down the complexity of the real world (Patton, 1990). It is an interpretive framework guided by beliefs about how things can be understood and studied (Guba, 1990). In business and management research, there are two dominant paradigms. They are referred to as positivism and phenomenology (Roberts et al., 2003; Remenyi et al., 2005).
3.2.1 Positivism
Positivism, referred to as logical positivism “implies that the researcher is working with an observable social reality and that the end product of such research can be the derivation of laws or law-like generalizations similar to those produced by the physical or natural scientists” (Remenyi, 1995, p. 10). Positivism is primarily deductive (Popper, 1959) with typical research questions asking “how much?” and/or “how many?” The
positivist approach is often based on hypothesis testing. The scope is reductionist with the observer removed from the sample.
“Positivism was adopted by Comte (1798-1857) to express the idea that phenomena were real, certain, and precise” (Remenyi et al., 2005, p. 287). The philosophy lends itself to research using quantitative analysis; data are collected from a relatively large and random sample based on the population. The objective often is to perform calculations based on statistical analysis in order to make inferences about the population. The results generated may be more definitive than those produced using a purely phenomenological framework (Roberts et al., 2003).
3.2.2 Phenomenology
Phenomenology is defined as a “theoretical point of view that advocates the study of direct experience taken at face value; and one sees behavior as determined by the phenomena of experience rather than by external, objective and physically described reality” (Cohen & Manion, 1994, p. 29). Phenomenology is primarily inductive, with typical research questions asking “how?” and “why?” and/or “what?” The phenomenologist seeks to understand and explain phenomena based around human action. It is the paradigm used in the research conducted for this thesis.
Phenomenology as a framework is more holistic and less reductionist, and, as such, it does not make inferences regarding the population as a whole. The approach is more process oriented, often exploratory, with qualitative data collected from a smaller sample group. The researcher may interact with the group, and is not as detached from it as the positivist. The results tend to be more indicative. The results can be used to generate theory, which can be tested using a more positivistic approach (Roberts et al., 2003).
3.3 Research Methods
The research methods outlined below include both a multi-case study (section 3.3.1) and survey study (3.3.2) used in the data collection and analysis.
3.3.1 Case Study Method
A case study is a process and record of research in which detailed consideration is given to a particular matter. The case study method was used to research DMCs in five SMEs.
The focus of the analysis was the managers of these SMEs, with the expressed research
aim to inductively build theory on DMCs that involved empirically investigating how managers created, extended, or modified resources (Helfat et al., 2007) in their firms.
The use of the case method fits with the research design and methodology used in this thesis in order to empirically investigate DMCs. As Yin (2009) noted “case studies are the preferred method when (a) ‘how’ or ‘why’ questions are being posed, (b) the investigator has little control over events, and (c) the focus is on a contemporary phenomena with a real-life context” (p. 2).
The managers were the unit of analysis, and the SMEs they represented were an insurer, a bank, an accounting service, a real estate agency, and an investment advisor.
The data collected consisted of mainly primary data in the form of semi-structured interviews (Appendix B) conducted with each of the managers, and was supplemented with secondary data (e.g., annual reports).
Marshall and Rossman (2006) noted the semi-structured interview provides insight into individual experience and “focuses on the deep, lived meanings that events have for individuals, assuming that these meanings guide actions and interactions” (p. 105). The semi-structured interview questions used in the case study centered on researching the critical aspects of DMCs, and finding what DMCs managers used in practice.
This involved asking mangers questions that centered on how they created, extended, or modified their resource bases during episodes of significant external environmental change, and what managerial search and selection processes were involved, including resource configuration, deployment, and implementation, with further questions ascertaining technical and/or evolutionary fitness of the capability.
The data were analyzed using the constant comparison method, which compares data in and across cases and with the literature to build theory (Eisenhardt, 1989;
Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007). The process of establishing patterns through constant comparison and triangulation of sources to build theory from the data, fits with the quasi-judicial explanation building and phenomenological approach described above.
The case study method was designed to ensure the overall reliability and validity (Yin, 2009) of the research. This included using multiple sources of evidence, and maintaining a case study database (e.g., a comprehensive digital database that included transcribing and coding all of the data), and establishing a chain of evidence by linking the questions, evidence, and conclusions together in reporting the findings.
The use of the multi-case study as done here is supported in the theoretical literature on method (Remenyi et al., 2005; Stake, 2006; Merriam, 2009; Yin, 2009). The number of cases (five managers/SMEs) used is supported in the theoretical literature as well.
Eisenhardt (1989), for example, noted that, although there is no ideal number of cases,
“between four and ten cases usually works well” (p. 545).
The use of the case method is supported in DC research (see Table 3.1 below), although only one DMC study used it (Martin, 2011). The method has been used successfully in a doctoral thesis on DC creation (Akwei, 2007). The originators of the concept of DMC have called for additional research using case studies (Adner & Helfat, 2003).
3.3.2 Survey Method
A survey is defined as a “collection of a large quantity of evidence, usually numeric, or evidence that will be converted to numbers, normally by means of a questionnaire”
(Remenyi et al., 2005, p. 290). The use of the survey is appropriate for answering “how much?” or “how many?” type questions, and therefore is an approach fitting within a more positivistic framework, and can be used to test propositions or hypotheses.
The survey method was used with the case method in this thesis. After the results were derived from the case studies, a survey study was conducted in order to build on them. The survey was first piloted through successive iterations to ensure reliability.
The first one used a Likert (1932) type scale because it is commonly used in research questionnaires (Albaum, 1997).
The survey was thus pretested by practitioners and critiqued by academicians, and developed into the one used (Appendix F). The survey method is supported in DC research. Of the 50 studies shown in Table 2.4 above, eight relied on survey data in their analysis and the method has also been used successfully in a doctoral thesis on measuring DCs (Atkinson, 2009).
3.4 Methodological Approaches Used in DC Research
The extent to which the methods used in this thesis are based on existing ones supported in the extant literature is significant. Of 50 studies on DCs from 1997-2013 appearing in top tier Grade 4 management journals, 10 studies used the case method, eight used the survey method, and seven used interview data. The studies from the literature review shown in the table below used either case or survey data. The research conducted for
this thesis used both in order to strengthen the research results in accordance with the stated research aim and objectives. The methodological approach used in DC research by leading scholars in the field is represented in the table below.
Table 3.1 Methodological Approaches used in DC Research and this Thesis
Author(s)/Date Case Method Used Interviews Used Survey Data Used Amit & Zott (2001) *
Daneels (2008) *
Daneels (2010) * *
Døving & Gooderham (2008) *
Drnevich & Kriauciunas (2011) *
Galunic & Eisenhardt (2001) * *
Gilbert (2006) * *
Kale & Singh (2007) *
Malik & Kotabe (2009) *
Marcus & Anderson (2006) *
Martin (2011) * *
Pablo et al. (2007) * *
Rindova & Kotha (2001) *
Rosenbloom (2000) *
Salvato (2003) * *
Salvato (2009) * *
Slater et al. (2006) *
Song et al. (2005) *
Thus, the use of the methods adopted for the thesis are fully supported in the DC literature, as well as the theoretical literature on methodology, which has been consulted in terms of how to properly conduct inductive, qualitative research, and deductive quantitative research (Popper, 1959; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Eisenhardt, 1989; Miles &
Huberman, 1994; Remenyi, 1995; Huberman & Miles, 2002; Roberts et al., 2003;
Malhotra & Peterson, 2005; Remenyi et al., 2005; Grover & Vriens, 2006; Malhotra, 2006; Stake, 2006; Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007; Golden-Biddle & Locke, 2007;
Merriam, 2009; Yin, 2009; Cooper & Schindler, 2011), the former of which is used here within the phenomenological framework.
3.5 Research Setting and Context
The research context and setting for the multi-case study involved managers of SMEs from the finance and insurance and real estate sectors. The managers/SMEs selected for the case study are of a purposeful sample (Merriam, 2009) in that the sample selection criteria included managers that have been in their roles for many years, have experienced significant environmental changes, and have demonstrated competitive advantage in their firms over time. Thus, according to the literature, they would have a propensity for DMCs.
The finance and insurance and real estate sectors are highly dynamic, and the managers that informed the study would have experienced significant change in the external environment (i.e., the recent financial crises and severe recession, referred to as the Great Recession of 2007-2009). This research setting was therefore valuable in obtaining insight into how the managers configured (created, extended, and/or modified) their resource bases, inclusive of managerial search and selection processes, toward achieving and sustaining competitive advantage in this environment.
The candidate had worked previously in the financial services sector for many years and has therefore a theoretical sensitivity to the industry. Theoretical sensitivity refers to the personal quality of the researcher as it relates to the understanding of the meaning and subtlety of data, and the insight with which a researcher comes to the research situation due to the amount of experience and expertise gained from working in the sector (Glaser, 1978). Theoretical sensitivity enables recognition of important data enhancing the ability to formulate conceptually dense theory.
This includes the notion of “mode 2” research (MacLean et al., 2002), and incorporating practice-oriented grounding of data. As Golden-Biddle and Locke (2007) noted, “when authors portray a detailed familiarity with the field setting and its members, they are establishing themselves as authentic or field-knowledgeable storytellers” and those with a background in the field of study, “convey certain details and understandings of the field obtainable only by having ‘been there’” (p. 77).
Having been a practitioner, conducting research in this area incorporated an element of “reflexivity” (Gibbons et al., 1994), with the researcher as “reflective practitioner”
(Schön, 1983), recognizing “[r]eflection is an important human activity in which people [i.e., the managers/the candidate] recapture their experience think about it, mull it over and evaluate it” (Boud et al., 1985, p. 19), enhancing the ability to deconstruct a respondent’s narrative (Boje, 2001) with the ability to discern meaning as a peer within a “community of practice,” learning, and constructing meaning and identity (Wenger, 1998).
3.6 Sample Design
The sample design included five case studies (Chapter 4) of managers selected as a purposeful sample from SMEs in the finance and insurance and real estate industries, relying on primarily interview data with the managers of the firms (six managers were interviewed in person). The survey study (Chapter 5) involved a pilot that was sent to 30
managers in large and small firms (in the same industries), and there were 10 respondents. Both the case studies and pilot survey were a part of a regional sample.
The final survey used in the main study included 101 surveys sent to managers in large and small firms. The population was drawn from the finance and insurance and real estate sectors. A professional survey service was used (section 5.5) in which the candidate created custom filters prior to sending the survey (i.e., the respondent had to be a manager, within the above sectors, within the United States). The response rate ranged from 64 to 101 answered questions, a minimum response rate of 63.4%.
3.7 Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations are an important aspect of the research design and methodology and were observed at all stages of the research process. They involved acting honestly and professionally and with the utmost integrity throughout the research process. This included using research data fairly and responsibly, taking care not to include personal views or biases so as to avoid influencing the results, maintaining impartiality, and processing only valid data and developing only those results that could be fully supported by it.
Ethical considerations regarding the participants in the study involved communicating in verbal and in written form (Appendix A) that their confidentiality would be respected, they would remain anonymous, their participation was totally voluntary, and that they could withdraw from the study at any time for any reason. The participants held right of first refusal regarding their personal information being published, although none of those participating in the research was expected to be adversely affected as a result of participation.
3.8 Summary
The chapter detailed the research design and methodology. This included discussion of the research paradigm used, referred to as phenomenology. The research methods used to collect data, including the case and survey methods, were established. This was followed by the assessment of the methodological approaches previously used in DC research, as published in top management journals, to be compatible with those used here. The research setting and relevant context and the sample design were described, followed by the ethical considerations with respect to conducting the research. The data collection and analysis chapters for the multi-case and survey studies are presented next.