In a qualitative case study approach, the selection of the cases or the sampling of the case studies is sequential and conceptually driven (Miles & Huberman, 1994). But grounded theory emphasizes empirical concerns such as the probability of covering the empirical phenomenon under study to the maximum possible extent (Glaser &
Strauss, 1967). Therefore, the most important criterion for the selection of a case organization was that it should have an ongoing implementation of an ERP
technology, preferably in its initial stage of implementation and likely to complete the implementation at least within a year—the approximate period of my fieldwork. Such organizations were available in different parts of the world. Since the focus of my study was partly on the process of embedding the contextual elements, such as the culture of the organization and the wider society, it was advantageous to have some knowledge about the social context in which the implementations would occur.
Therefore, familiarity with the environment of the society was an important factor.
Accordingly, I chose my home country—India--as the location to select the organizations. Moreover, in the age of globalization, the implementation of such technology projects takes place in an international cross-cultural context. Given most of the ERP products are designed and developed in Western countries, a non-Western country is particularly interesting. Coupled with this, there is a growing significance of Indian software industries in the international market, and India is a major destination for outsourcing software development and consultancy (NASSCOM data, 2004;
Noronha & D’Cruz, 2009). On these grounds, India is a particularly interesting location to carry out this study. I prepared a pool of ten organizations that had ERP implementation at its initial stage and had plans to complete the implementation within the period of my observation. The pool contained seven manufacturing organizations and three service organizations.
Next, I considered access and data availability as the main criteria for choosing the organizations from this pool. Scholars have noted the importance of these criteria in selecting cases (King & Applegate, 1997; Yin, 2003). For example, King and
Applegate (1997:29) note that access to case sites is fraught with difficulty because of
several “powerful barriers” to be overcome, including length of time, cost of research, access to managers, data availability, and the level of business sophistication. Four manufacturing organizations agreed to give me access in terms of sharing of company documents, employees’ time, other resources, and the permission to participate in some meetings. One was a public organization—a local government owned
organization in my home state and the other three were private organizations: the first one a Western multinational organization in my home state, the second one a local private organization in my home state, and the third one a local private organization in another state in India. To enrich the theory by covering all nuances and variations of the empirical phenomenon the grounded theory suggests choosing contrasting cases (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Goulding, 2002). The qualitative case study approach also suggests such contrast to increase the generalizability of findings (Yin, 2003).
Therefore, I considered the degree of contrast as the next criterion. Although there were two similarities (geographical location in the same state and type of industry--manufacturing), the local government owned organization and the Western
multinational private organization offered the maximum contrast along ten dimensions. These are described in Table 3.1 (next page).
Characteristics Site 1 (The public: Gov India) Site 2 (The private: WestIndia) Ownership State government owned,
MD—a political appointee.
Market leading European private multinational that took over Europeanowned private multinational replacing the owner MD with a British MD.
ERP product chosen
Local ERP later turned into a new ERP product development;
operational environment: Linux
Syteline—Infor (3rd in global market); operational
Small-medium industry sector Subsidiary unit of a large corporation
Geographical location
Chemical industry belt in a South Indian state
The only hardware company in a local “Silicon Valley” in the same South Indian state
Reported in the media as peaceful during past decade
Reported in the media as conflictual during past decade Market focus Exclusively domestic market Mostly international market
(60% approx.) Governance
structure
Labor-management partnership with presence of trade unions (TUs) from the inception
No labor partnership; TUs not allowed as per Employer Protection Act (1995) Age of the
organization
48 years 12 years
Each of these ten dimensions has bearing on either the ERP implementation or the exercise of power or both. For example, the difference in the production process is important for ERP since ERP is a software that contains standard work processes.
Among the three private manufacturing firms, given the accessibility of data, the proximity between the organizations, the location of the organization in the society
TABLE 3.1: COMPARISON BETWEEN SITE 1--GOVINDIA AND SITE 2--WESTINDIA
where I was born and brought up, and the degree of contrast, I chose the Western multinational organization in my home state. Moreover, my work experience in
technology implementation with both a private multinational manufacturing firm and a public local manufacturing firm, and a family relationship with one of the managers in the public organization were added advantages. At the same time, the fact that I knew the manager might have introduced some bias (for example, some people might not have talked to me openly). However, I was conscious about such a chance and took all precautions (e.g. proposing and signing non-disclosure of information with the
interviewees) to gain credibility and confidence of the interviewees. The interview data showed that the chance of such bias was negligible. Moreover, I was
conscientious about maintaining utmost integrity with issues of privacy. My status as a relative of the manager meant that a few community member prodded me for
confidential information by asking questions such as ‘so what are the Materials saying about this?’ or ‘I heard you interviewed Mr.X in SQAD (plant 1), right? He is just an invertebrate-what did he say?’ Maneuvering through the political landscape was difficult at times but my previous experience in conducting qualitative fieldwork helped me, once the community realized that I would not disclose information, they stopped asking. Next, I discuss further implications of selecting the sties.