The selection of case studies: strategies and their applications to IS implementation case studies

Case study research by definition is well suited to the study of IS implementation, especially when context is important. Furthermore, its products are highly relevant and therefore they appeal to IS practitioners, an audience for which the IS literature has been critiqued of ignoring. While the value of single case research is methodologically viable in the study of critical cases, the multiple case study approach is believed to be more appropriate to the study of typical cases of IS implementations. However, the IS literature provides little guidance on strategies for case study selection, particularly for multiple case studies. More important, is the need to provide the rational for case selection that relates these suggested strategies to the particular objectives of the case research inquiry. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by providing a review of strategies for single and multiple case study selection in the context of systems implementation. Furthermore, the application of these guidelines in a multiple case study of strategic decision making of enterprise systems implementations will be illustrated

Using a Multiple-Case Studies Design to Investigate the Information-Seeking Behavior of Arts Administrators

The case study method, and in particular the multiple???case studies design, offers LIS researchers a proven tool for achieving a deep understanding of a specific phenomenon???-for example, the information- seeking behavior of a particular user group. Although the case study method has been dismissed by critics who question the rigor of the approach, numerous studies over the past twenty years have demonstrated that the case study method can be used successfully to probe beneath the surface of a situation and to provide a rich context for understanding the phenomena under study. This article summarizes the application of the multiple???case studies design, in which a literal and theoretical replication strategy is used to identify consistent patterns of behavior and to uncover new and/or divergent themes. The motivation behind arts administrators??? decisions to seek information is investigated using this approach and examples are given of sample selection, data collection, and analysis. Specific issues associated with the case study method are identified and practical steps used to address them are suggested.published or submitted for publicatio

Quantum criticality with multiple dynamics

Quantum critical systems with multiple dynamics possess not only one but several time scales, tau_i ~ xi^(z_i), which diverge with the correlation length xi. We investigate how scaling predictions are modified for the simplest case of multiple dynamics characterized by two dynamical critical exponents, z_> and z_<. We argue that one should distinguish the case of coupled and decoupled multiple dynamic scaling depending on whether there exists a scaling exponent which depends on both z_i or not. As an example, we study generalized Phi^4-theories with multiple dynamics below their upper critical dimension, d+z_<<4. We identify under which condition coupled scaling is generated. In this case the interaction of quantum and classical fluctuations leads to an emergent dynamical exponent, z_e=z_>/(nu (z_>-z_<)+1).Comment: 8 pages including supplementary material. Minor changes as compared to the previous versio

Theories of developmental dyslexia: Insights from a multiple case study of dyslexic adults

A multiple case study was conducted in order to assess three leading theories of developmental dyslexia: the phonological, the magnocellular (auditory and visual) and the cerebellar theories. Sixteen dyslexic and 16 control university students were administered a full battery of psychometric, phonological, auditory, visual and cerebellar tests. Individual data reveal that all 16 dyslexics suffer from a phonological deficit, 10 from an auditory deficit, 4 from a motor deficit, and 2 from a visual magnocellular deficit. Results suggest that a phonological deficit can appear in the absence of any other sensory or motor disorder, and is sufficient to cause a literacy impairment, as demonstrated by 5 of the dyslexics. Auditory disorders, when present, aggravate the phonological deficit, hence the literacy impairment. However, auditory deficits cannot be characterised simply as rapid auditory processing problems, as would be predicted by the magnocellular theory. Nor are they restricted to speech. Contrary to the cerebellar theory, we find little support for the notion that motor impairments, when found, have a cerebellar origin, or reflect an automaticity deficit. Overall, the present data support the phonological theory of dyslexia, while acknowledging the presence of additional sensory and motor disorders in certain individuals

Multiple sampling and interpolation in the classical Fock space

We study multiple sampling, interpolation and uniqueness for the classical Fock space in the case of unbounded mul-tiplicities

International technology transfer: building theory from a multiple case-study in the aircraft industry

International technology transfer occurs frequently in international operations, for example in\ud cases of foreign direct investment where companies set-up existing manufacturing lines in new\ud locations. It also occurs in situations of international outsourcing where a new supplier receives\ud product and/or production process information. This technology transfer process often leads to\ud difficulties, for example delays and much higher costs than anticipated. To gain insight into the\ud causes of these difficulties we used a grounded theory approach to describe the process of\ud international production technology transfer. We conducted four case studies in the aircraft\ud industry and analyzed the problems that occurred. We found that technology transfer consists of\ud three phases: preparation, installation and utilization. These three phases are influenced by three\ud types of factors: technological, organizational and environmental. The combination of activities\ud with factors enables an integrated view on international technology transfer. We found that the\ud amount of technology, the accuracy of information, and the extent of organizational and\ud environmental differences have a large impact on the efficiency of the technology transfer\ud process

Poor written and oral text comprehension in third grade children. A multiple case study

In this multiple case study we analyzed oral text comprehension, reading profiles and underlying cognitive abilities (attention, executive functions, working memory, narrative memory, rapid automatized naming and vocabulary) of 9 children identified as poor written text comprehenders after a school screening on 75 third grade children. Four out of the 9 children were named Language-Minority (L-M) children, since they had immigrant parents. The remaining 5 children were born in Italy from Italian parents. The comparisons of the two subgroups suggested that the lexical route of reading was particularly impaired in the L-M subgroup and that written text comprehension was weakened by restricted vocabulary which, in turn, was not supported by efficient phonological short-term memory. In a second type of data analysis we examined the individual profiles of the 9 children, irrespective of their belonging to the L-M or Italian subgroups, and identified different patterns of associations among reading performance, written text comprehension and oral text comprehension. The findings showed that poor text comprehension always co-occurred with word and/or text reading difficulties which, in turn, were associated to slow naming and weak verbal working memory. Moreover, when children had both written and oral text comprehension difficulties, not only verbal working memory was impaired but also narrative memory, suggesting a weakness in the episodic buffer (Baddeley 2000; 2010). The implications of poor working memory associated to slow naming and/or weak episodic buffer for text comprehension are discusse