The familiarization study in qualitative research: From theory to practice

This paper seeks to bridge a perceived gap in the literature on the methodology of qualitative research. The audience in mind are business and management students who are required to carry out field research as a part of their masters or doctoral degrees. After submitting a research proposal or candidacy, which sets out the research strategy in broad terms, students are characteristically faced with field work involving the collection of data from participants or respondents. Whatever thought and planning has been given to interviewing and questionnaires in theory, it is a necessity in qualitative research to adapt to the situation on the ground which is unique for every research.The paper argues that this situation is not specifically addressed in the qualitative research literature. This activity is termed a ?Familiarization Study?. The elements of a familiarization study ? procedures, content and theories ? are discussed. The paper concludes with two cases of a familiarization study as a part of doctoral research. In the first case familiarisation focussed on the necessity for the research to interview in an unfamiliar and potentially hostile environment. The second case the researcher was faced with the task of developing practical procedures for the collection of data according to the exacting protocols of the discourse research method known as conversation analysis

Grounded research: A modified grounded theory for the business setting

The paper is about the use of grounded theory in the business setting. The paper reflects on Glaser?s extreme and persistent criticism of his grounded theory co-author, Strauss?s diversion from the pure grounded theory principles of emergence and theory generation. Grounded theory is last in line of the great, the grand and the grounded, the great being realist philosophy, the grand being scientism and sociological grand theories and the grounded representing interpretive theory grounded in respondent data. The philosophical antecedents of scientism and rational objectivism can be seen to persist in contemporary organizations. Historically, dualism of physical and metaphysical aspects of the world have allowed investigation of the concrete to flourish at the expense of the more intuitive and intangible. Sociological predicates of structural functionalism carried this into the social arena. The scientific research culture persisted due to intitutionalization. The result is that organizations come equipped with supercategories of meaning embedded in their structures systems and processes. These impact on research more than simply as contextual phenomena. They constrain emergence and produce preconceptions. This is exacerbated by the need in business research to begin with a defined business problem or issue. Whilst it is possible to conduct generative qualitative research, and to fulfil many of the requirements of symbolic interactionism, the claim to grounded theory needs to be made on a case by case basis using researcher judgement. The term grounded research is presented as an alternative to grounded theory

New strategies to develop 'real' engagement by students with the learning of the knowledge and skills required for international competitiveness

There is the assumption that the boundaries of functions and disciplines as they appear in organisations sometimes have their roots in the sort of management education provided by business schools. There is evidence that Australian companies espouse international competitiveness and especially the integrative aspect, but practice more ?traditional? and functional approaches, often mirroring the approaches in their professional and educational courses (Argyris, 1993). Management educators, and particularly those in business schools, need to take some responsibility for the current ?add-on? attitudes and activities which managers take back into organisations (Beck, Whiteley, and McFetridge, 1991). There needs to be corresponding management development in the practices of breaking down functional borders. The writers describe a holistic teaching/learning strategy designed to achieve deep rather than surface learning (Biggs, 1982). The vehicle for the paper is the ?International Business Competitiveness? (IBC) course of study offered to MBA students. The course unit involved a multi-disciplinary team of lecturers. It was recognised that this, in itself, would not solve the boundaries problem, indeed it could exacerbate it. Therefore, a model of international competitiveness was produced collaboratively by the lecturing team, and various integrating devices were designed. The paper will describe the model, the integrating devices, the qualitative evaluation methodology used and students? evaluative comments

Decision making and decision taking: GSS and complex adaptive systems theory

The paper reports on research to explore the anticipatory capabilities of individuals when faced with a decision scenario and when asked to take into account the anticipated responses of the recipient of the decision ? the decision taker. It reports on the effectiveness of Group Support Systems (GSS) technology in emerging imaginative and anticipatory data. The assumption is that the decision maker can involve the decision taker as an adaptive agent in the decision maker?s final (collapsed) decision choice. GSS proved to be easy for individuals to use and productive in output. The calibre of the imaginative and anticipatory stories suggested that the mechanistic appearance of computer-aided data collection did not have an adverse effect.Theoretically, there is a preponderance in decision theory of rational choice making but little to see in decision research about the drama of human interaction. Typically, literature focuses on decision formulation and often the decision taker role is somewhat taken for granted as being either compliant or non compliant. The idea in this research, stimulated by chaos and complex adaptive systems theory, is to bring the decision taker inside of the decision maker?s self organising and sense making processes. In particular, the suggested human capabilities of anticipation, imagination and personal schema building of ?if then? rules are being explored.Systems theory is an important element of the theoretical framework, particularly as Group Support Systems technology was used as the main data collection device. Given the nature of the research issue, an argument is presented suggesting that GSS and indeed much research in the systems area continues to be affected by antecedents of positivist science. Studying adaptivity in decision making/taking is largely a constructivist undertaking. However, there is also a sense of the real and rational. Complexity theory may provide a way to incorporate both perspectives in a similar way to physicists now talking about a qualitative science

From JAD to integrative connectedness

Integrative Connectedness emerged from an IT decision theoretic software development research. Co-creation is a key to the developer/implementer relationship. "Buy-in" becomes more important than a "Buy the software? attitude. A Resource Allocation Modeling Process (RAMP) was the vehicle used to take the idea of joint application development (JAD) further, conceptually and practically. The theory of complex adaptive systems (cas), in particular the combination of if-then rules, anticipatory mechanisms and the space of the adjacent possible was used as a cornerstone of integrative connectedness

Antecedents of moral disengagement: Preliminary empirical study in Malaysia

This study, conducted in Malaysia is part of the pilot study carried out as a pre-test procedure to a main study on moral disengagement. According to social cognitive theory, moral disengagement is the key to deactivate individual self- regulatory process. Once it is deactivated an individual will be freed from any psychological feeling of discomfort in performing unethical behaviour. Hence, based on social cognitive theory this study aims to identify the antecedents of moral disengagement by investigating the individual differences (gender and personality) and environmental influence (organizational ethical climate). ANCOVA and hierarchical regression were applied to test the hypotheses. There was a moderate gender difference in the level of moral disengagement between male and female employees. As predicted, conscientiousness and extraversion were found to have a negative significant relationship with moral disengagement. Further, organizational ethical climate was found to be negatively and modestly related to moral disengagement

HRM Transition in Indonesian Companies: Linear and Non Linear Approaches

The paper reports on a study of human resource management practices in seven large Indonesian Companies. Current practices reported by company staff were considered against a conceptual framework representing the stages of Personnel Administration, Human Resource Management, and Strategic Human Resource Management. Results provide clear evidence of practices in each stage occurring simultaneously. The data in one company, reported here, challenges the more usual notion of an integrated and linear HRM system and is replaced by a combination of linear and non- linear elements. There was with clear evidence of transition and adaptation

Critical thinking/questioning skills a meta-model for cognitive development in management education

The paper presents a model for the critical questioning of organisational practices and theories. P.A.T.P. represents PHILOSOPHY, ASSUMPTIONS, THEORY AND PRACTICES. The aim is to develop skills of questioning through three levels. The first level is Interesting. The second level is Important. The third level is Critical. The paper presents the model using two contrasting philosophies of organisation, as expounded by F W Taylor and Stephen Covey. The paper presents the educational setting of MBA seminar, a series of presentations by international and professional experts. Following each presented seminar is the Critical Questioning Session. The student co-author presents the student learning process through two case examples. He applies the approach outside of the MBA seminar setting, showing an extension of his learning. As a meta-model, the application should span cultures and disciplines with the aim of making sense of rather than adding on

Trust and communication development needs: An Australian waterfront study

This paper examines how the findings of a wider research effort, designed to examine the effect of change processes on the waterfront in Fremantle, Western Australia, gave rise to another research project. This second research project is described in full as an action research. The paper presents the objectives, content method and outcomes as well as the processes followed throughout the project. The Enterprise Communication Committee was not created for the action research program but it was able to define both trust and communication. A home produced mechanism for developing trust and communication was constructed together with a commitment to carry on action learning within the organisation. This is the waterfront - with no history of development and no exposure to theory.The group members identified a need, produced a set of working definitions. a methodology and an enthusiastic commitment to action