Research strategy and methods

This work uses case study as a research strategy - popularly applied in Information Systems (Orlikowski & Baroudi, 1991) - for developing the configurable airport reference model.

Benbasat, Goldstein and Mead (1987), discuss case study characteristics that are used in this research and state that: “A case study examines a phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from one or a few entities (people, groups, or organizations)”. The case study purpose is primarily descriptive – each case yields a “rich and detailed description of an instance and its environment”

(Johannesson & Perjons, 2014) in the form of its respective BPMN passenger facilitation process model. The five airport case instances are selected on a basis of diversity to find a suitable balance between both typical and unusual features representative of Australian airports. This selection was, however, contingent on the airports agreeing to participate in the research. Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth airports are selected as typical major international airports. Gold Coast and Rockhampton are unusual in that as smaller airports international and domestic flights occur at the same terminal, and furthermore Rockhampton provides chartered military services.

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While the full descriptions of each case are presented as individual process models, the final artefact encapsulates their descriptions with the functions of the reference model. The design processes used to this do not suffer from the typical lack of generalisability that may result from case studies (Johannesson & Perjons, 2014), as they are captured as domain-agnostic normative guidelines in the next chapter. Each instance is studied in depth, capturing all prescribed facets of the processes as the unit of analysis, which Tellis (1997) explains is “a critical factor in the case study. It is typically a system of action rather than an individual or group of individuals”. The core case study question (Yin, 2013) is simple: “what is the process for international departure passenger facilitation?”. It is in the representation of these as process models that considerations of pragmatic quality plays a role in balancing with model completeness (see section 3.3.4). By definition of being process models, the artefact captures the relevant “relationships and processes” in each case. As advised by Benbasat et al. (1987) a multi-method approach is used for data collection to ensure “rich, many-faceted knowledge” is captured, in particular from interviews of the domain experts and observation the process execution. The cases are considered in their natural setting, as data is collected from domain experts via interviews during visits to the respective airports in the different cities, and observations are carried out around the same time.

Semi-structured interviews are used during data collection from domain experts. The only order to the questions was in directing them from the most abstract high level processes to the most detailed ones, by first addressing the end to end top level, then working down to the next one, and so on. An exact script is not used, rather the most repeated questions for process modelling in this project are: “what is done?”; “how is this done?”; “what happens then?”; “who does this?”; “what is the input and from where does it come?”; “what is the output and where does it go?”; and “when does this activity occur?”. Questions are also asked about the control flow, roles, events, typical exceptions, locations and any technology that might be used. The questions are posed as required and the processes are modelled on paper during the interview. A basic introduction to BPMN is provided prior to the interview so that the domain expert can understand what is being modelled. During derivation of contextual factors, the key question is “why are these steps different at this airport?” to acquire the professional opinion of the domain expert. Validation of captured data is also done via interviews, where the domain expert identifies any inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the captured business logic. Audio recordings are made where they provide consent, as per the ethics requirements of the study.

Chapter 3 Research design

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Document analysis of organisational artefacts is carried out to support process modelling and practical positioning of the research. In this case, government reports used include:

Review of Passengers Functions at International Airports (Rehbein AOS, 2007b); Passenger Facilitation Taskforce Performance Model (Rehbein AOS, 2007a); National Passenger Facilitation Committee (NPFC) Performance Survey (NPFC, 2009a); and NPFC Strategic Outlook (NPFC, 2009b).

Instructional material on business rules is used to understand the process including brochures provided at airports by Australian government agencies such as: “Cross-Border Movement – Bearer Negotiable Instrument information for international travellers”; “Are you carrying $10,000”; “Tax back for Travellers – TRS Tourist Refund Scheme”; “New Passenger Duty Free Concessions”; “Going overseas? Don’t bring it back”; “Guide for travellers – know before you go”; “Help protect Australia”; “Information for Domestic Passengers travelling on international flights”; “If in doubt check it out”; “Client Service Charter”; and “Are you heading to an area affected by Bird Flu?”. These types of documents clarify what behaviour or activities are expected of the passengers.

Studying business objects samples also assists the modelling activity, for example: Outgoing and Incoming Passenger Cards; boarding pass; bag tag; bag tag receipt; and “Express path”

cards for departing and arriving premium travellers. Study of such documents enables improved understanding of business rules and effective domain expert interviews, especially with respect to the points in the process that the traveller acquires important information.

Observation is carried out as a secondary means of data collection for process modelling, firstly to gain an understanding through observing the process at each airport from beginning to end, and secondly for confirming what is learned from the respondents of the interviews. The intent of the data collection has been to ensure that objectivity is maintained and data is comprehensive. Actual roles and numbers of interviewees or respondents for data collection and analysis activities are presented in Chapter 4.

The next section describes the research requirements for the design, development, and subsequent evaluation of the artefact.

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