Sample selection

Phenomenological research is not concerned with statistical generalisations (Berglund, 2007). Researchers using this method have the goal of making explicit the implicit meanings and values of the researched persons by understanding their living experiences. Case-study method provides the basis for developing the context wherein the researched phenomenon is taking place, and it could depict the complexity of the relationships among the actors that constitute the phenomenon itself (Stake, 2005). The sample selection is driven by two factors:

1. Access to data sources and, in particular, access to archives and documents.

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2. The research questions and the data sources that should be accessed in order to build a dataset that will be meaningful and could provide proper justification for the answers given to the research questions.

In my thesis, I am using theoretical sampling. Mason (1996, p. 94) suggested that “theoretical sampling is concerned with constructing a sample which is meaningful theoretically because it builds in certain characteristics or criteria which help to develop and test your theory and explanation.” In addition to this, Glaser and Strauss (1967, p. 45) claimed that “theoretical sampling is the process of data collection for generating theory whereby the analyst jointly collects, codes, and analyses his data and then decides what data to collect next and where to find them, in order to develop his theory as it emerges.”

Since the research problem is to understand the strategic decision-making process in uncertain environments, it is of greater importance to understand in what sense strategic decision-making theories, and particularly the ones related to retail location decisions, can be applied to Greek-based retail firms. The sample selection is consistent with Mason’s and Glaser and Strauss’ theoretical sampling definitions. The unit of analysis will be retail SMEs, taking into consideration Yin’s (2009) suggestion that generalisation of results, from either single- or multiple-case designs, is made to theory and not to populations from which sample cases are drawn.

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Theoretical sampling has been used in similar research projects. Dey (2004) reported that he used the theoretical sampling technique in his thesis about labour union members’ decisions when dealing with disputes. He first selected the decision of a union to strike and then he compared it with a union that negotiated. The value of theoretical sampling is that it provides a simultaneous comparison between theory and real life, which is consistent with the multiple case-study method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). In his study, Dey (2004) stated that the greater the contrast in settings, the sharper the points of comparison.

Stake (2006) also suggested that it is useful to do more than one case study because examining typical and atypical settings offers information about diverse settings. In addition, Yin (2003) argued for the two-case design because identifying direct replication is easier; also, in terms of academic studies, researchers find it easier to avoid defending the validity of the empirical work.

A comparative case-study was employed in this doctoral research in order to explore the treatment of complexity by top and middle managers among retail organisations, with particular reference to the selection of locations for new stores. The main part of the data collection started in September 2006 and lasted until the end of 2008 (with the breaks noted in Chapter 1). The researcher spent 12 weeks in Company A, where he followed the everyday routines of middle and top managers. Twelve tape-recorded interviews with

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top and middle managers took place, using a semi-structured questionnaire. In addition to these interviews, more than fifty short conversations also took place and notes were taken. Additionally, another eight tape-recorded interviews were conducted with top and middle managers of Company B during a period of 6 weeks. Company A’s managers also gave access to various documents, such as consumer data, real estate agents quotes, and internal memos. Company B’s managers did not give access to archival or other kinds of data, but secondary research was conducted, and data and information that was collected has been used in order to enrich the existing primary data. However, it should be noted that the researcher kept close contact with the company A and followed their strategy development until mid- 2009 when the company was acquired by another Greek electrical retailer (see Chapter 8 for further details). Tape-recorded interviews were transcribed, and finally all interviews were coded using techniques that focused on the identification of common themes.

The translation of the material from Greek to English is complex task as Greek language is structurally different than the English one. There are also elements of the Greek culture that are quite common when addressed and discussed by Greek managers, words such as philotimia (the pursuit of honour, tangible or intangible), or meraki (the enthusiasm but also particular care with which someone performs a certain usually manual task) describe them. Another issue that made the translation challenging is that the Greek perception of size and volume are different to the ones that are used in the

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UK. For example what is considered to be a SME in terms of the number of employees and the amount of sales, or what is considered to be a hypermarket in Greece is locally adapted. For that reason a glossary of terms has been developed and can be found in Appendix 1. For these reasons the data collected for this study is in Greek and it was adapted into English by the author (Temple & Young, 2004).

Company A (regionally) and Company B (nationally) were two of the major electrical retailers in Greece. The total sales of the sector amounted to £1.3bn in 2006, having registered a growth of 12% on the previous year (ICAP, 2007). The leader of the sector was Kotsovolos (owned by DSGi) with a market share of about 24%. Company A had a market share of about 4% (Total Sales 2006: £34M/Gross Profits: £395K), and Company B a share of 10% (Total Sales 2006: £126M/Gross Profits: £7.3M). The market was highly fragmented because local traditional independent retailers still had a leading position in consumers’ choice: for example, Makrakis was the local market leader in Crete, where it competed against all the other national retailers (ICAP, 2007).

The study was focused on the operations of the companies in Greater Thessaloniki, the second largest urban area in Greece (2001 population – c763,000). Company A had five stores located there, out of a nine store network developed solely in Northern Greece. These stores accounted for 65% of the total retail sales of the company, and it was the local market leader

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with a market share of about 30%. Company B had four out of its fifty one stores located in Northern Greece, which accounted for 13% of its total retail sales. It was third by sales with a market share of about 18% after Kotsovolos.

Both companies had at the time at least one store in the centre of Thessaloniki, and others are located around the city in either planned or unplanned shopping centres. Both companies have been exploring the possibility of opening another new store in Thessaloniki. The interviews focused on the understanding of this process as the employees and other involved stakeholders experienced it within the strategic context.