Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

Li, Eric Ping Hung; Prasad, Ajnesh; Smith, Cristalle; Gutierrez, Ana; Lewis, Emily; Brown, Betty

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/qrom-03-2018-1621

The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of visual (i.e. non-textual) research methods in community-based participatory research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on a case illustration of a photo- and video-voice campaign involving rural communities in British Columbia, Canada.FindingsThe authors find that visual research methods, in the form of photo- and video-voice campaigns, allow participants to form ties between their community and the broader sociocultural, natural and political milieu in which their community is located. The authors highlight the benefits of using such methodological approaches to capture an emic perspective of community building.Originality/valueThe contribution of this study is twofold. First, this study uses a photo- and video-voice campaign to showcase the role of visuals in articulating community pride – that is, how locals construct identity – and a sense of belongingness. Second, by focusing its analytical gaze on the idea of “community,” this paper revisits the importance of active involvement of research participants in the execution of empirical studies. Ultimately, the authors urge organization and management studies scholars, as well as those working in the social sciences more broadly, to further explore the value of innovative community-based research approaches in future work.

Burton, Nicholas; Galvin, Peter

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/qrom-04-2018-1626

The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative research method using oral history interview data that may advance new types of methodological inquiry in management and organisation history research.Design/methodology/approachThe method, the authors present, combines matrix and template analysis using oral histories from unstructured interviews with 31 senior managers in the UK individual personal pensions product market to illuminate how the construction of “matrices” and “templates” can then be compared and contrasted across different time periods, and at different units of analysis, to analyse complex temporal data.FindingsThe authors highlight the veracity of a combination of template and matrix analysis for researchers handling management and organisation history data.Originality/valueElaborations of new research methodologies suitable for handling historical data remain few and far between. The proposed method offers a new approach for handing temporal textual data.

Azungah, Theophilus

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/qrom-07-2018-1671

Despite the crucial role of gaining access for successful research in social and management studies, very little has been written on issues and challenges associated with gaining access particularly in an undeveloped research context such as Ghana. The purpose of this paper is to share the experience with other researchers and practitioners for them to recognise the common challenges associated with gaining access to research sites and the significance of critical reflection and reflexivity on how a researcher’s positionality affects knowledge production. The paper emphasises the need for researchers to appreciate the taken-for-granted interactions that can contribute to critical thinking about identities and reflexivity in research. The paper adds to the paucity of voices particularly overseas students and researchers returning home (to country of origin) from Euro-American institutions to carry out field research.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on the field notes relating to the PhD fieldwork experiences in accessing subsidiaries of western multinational enterprises in Ghana. The author discussed how gatekeepers hindered access to key organisational members and the need to identify helpful networks through snowballing in order to access organisations and participants.FindingsConsiderable challenges such as denial of access, physical and psychological distress were encountered in the process of accessing organisations which often led to abandoning certain sites for others, even though those originally chosen were potentially rich sources of information. Also, positionality and the manner in which a researcher is perceived by participants certainly influence the knowledge one produces. Sufficient time is needed to negotiate and build relationships of trust with gatekeepers, which often resulted in delays in data collection. In this present study, gatekeepers often denied, limited or delayed access to potential participants and sites despite institutional ethical approval.Practical implicationsThe experiences highlighted in this paper can serve as a toolkit for qualitative researchers interested in conducting research in Ghana with regard to what to expect and how to manoeuvre through in the field.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the dearth of the methodology literature on issues relating to challenges to access, positionality, insider/outsider status of the researcher and their influences on knowledge production in an under-researched context, Ghana.

Heath, Michele; Porter, Tracy

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/qrom-05-2018-1648

Drawing from the extant literature on sensemaking theory, the purpose of this paper is to understand how physicians view health information exchange (HIE) implementation and how their stories frame the situation.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilizes content analysis with sensemaking theory as a theoretical lens to analyze physicians’ interviews.FindingsThe stories within this study draw attention to how sensemaking might impact the HIE implementation process. The findings demonstrated four well-defined manifest themes specific to sensemaking: bracketing, enactment, social and identity construction. There were sub-themes that cut across major themes: financial implications, practice changes and impact on professional reputation. The data demonstrated that each participant singled out items or events specific to the HIE change process in order to make sense of the change as an entirety.Originality/valueNo other study has applied sensemaking in an effort to gain insight into the ways physicians view the HIE process. Therefore, this study offers a unique perspective which might provide a framework through which to understand the possible barriers to successful implementation of HIE from a physician.

Hirvonen, Pasi

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/qrom-05-2018-1637

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics of social positioning and interpersonal conflicts in management teams. This paper utilizes positioning theory to analyze team conflicts by combining microlevel interaction analysis and explicit, meso-level team research in the context of managerial work.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on an analysis of 34 conflict episodes that occurred during management board meetings conducted by two Finnish public research institutions. By analyzing naturally occurring interactions and video material, this paper presents a discursive analysis of conflict from the perspective of positioning theory, focusing on local moral orders, social positions and the construction of dialogue.FindingsThis study’s findings illuminate how team conflicts may be understood in terms of positioning theory, as well as how positioning is connected to managing conflicts and constructing either degenerative or generative dialogue in teams. The present study indicates possibilities for applying positioning theory as a methodological tool when studying team interactions and dialogue.Practical implicationsThe study offers practical implications regarding team conflict management. By developing an understanding of the positioning dynamics of managers and other team members, one can help create constructive and generative dialogue in teams.Originality/valueFrom a methodological perspective, this paper presents a novel approach to the study of team conflicts and outlines several suggestions regarding the theoretical approach in the analysis of team interaction and dynamics.

Krohn, Mikaela

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/qrom-01-2018-1603

Despite the increased interest in video methods and the role of visuality in organizations and management, the use of video in organizations has received scant attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore organizational videoblogs as a phenomenon, and discuss avenues that open up for qualitative research. The paper examines the affordances of organizational videoblogs in a strategy context by contrasting them with more conventional corporate videos, in order to discuss how spectacularization and social media style communication is influencing social practices in organizations.Design/methodology/approachFirst, this paper introduces the phenomenon of organizational videoblogging and its implications for research. Second, it engages in a theoretical discussion on videoblogs as a strategizing activity, through three different analytical lenses: strategic sensegiving, strategic self-branding and strategy as spectacle. Illustrative empirical examples are used to support the theoretical discussion.FindingsThe paper argues that organizational videoblogging is a phenomenon that changes social practices in organizations by injecting a visual, social media type communication. Organizational videoblogs emphasize authenticity and provide new affordances for sensegiving and self-branding in strategizing, but ultimately lead us to ask whether they risk turning strategizing into an infotainment-like spectacle.Originality/valueThe value of this paper lies in conceptualizing how and why organizational videoblogs can be studied in organizations. The paper provides future research with vocabulary and characteristics to distinguish different types of video in organizations.

Bowden, Bradley G.

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/qrom-02-2019-1726

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it seeks to trace the origins of the various strands of postmodernism within German philosophic idealism; traditions of thought which placed emphasis – like postmodernism – on a subjective understanding of evidence and a supposed capacity of human consciousness to continually move beyond the bounds imposed by social convention and being; second, this paper states that postmodernism, rooted as it is in philosophic idealism, is methodologically and conceptually constrained. Its emphasis on consciousness and will marginalize its capacity to make meaningful contributions in areas such as economics, and the wider trends in human history.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is theoretical. It seeks to locate conflicting methodologies – most particularly those relating to postmodernism, positivism and philosophical realism – within the traditions of thought that have emerged since the enlightenment.FindingsPostmodernism is rooted in philosophical idealism. As such, it places emphasis on consciousness, identity and being. The essential problem with postmodernism, this paper argues, is not this emphasis. These are legitimate areas of inquiry. Rather, the central problem with postmodernist-informed research is found in the limited range of methodological and conceptual tools in its kitbag.Originality/valueDespite the growing influence of postmodernism in its various shades within academia, few of its proponents and critics trace its philosophic origins. In doing so this paper highlights the strengths and limitations of not only postmodernism but also its polar opposite, positivism.

Mollan, Simon

2019 Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/QROM-08-2019-1808

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore issues related to a recent article by Bradley Bowden published in QROM titled “Empiricism, and modern postmodernism: a critique”. The argument presented here is that antagonism between different sub-communities undertaking work related to the “historic-turn” in management and organization studies (MOS) should give way to greater acceptance of different “phenomenal” concerns and different methods of research.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a critical reading and interpretation of relevant texts. This paper critiques recent work by Bradley Bowden. These are then used as a starting point for a discussion of the different ways in which historical research is practiced in MOS.FindingsThe central interpretation developed is that despite many strengths, there are both interpretative and argumentational limitations to Bowden’s criticism that the historic-turn in MOS is postmodernist in nature. In pointing to the varieties of historical research and interpretation in the field, this paper calls for greater and more sympathetic understanding between the different related sub-fields that are interested in history in relation to management and organization.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper concludes by calling for more historical work that deals with historiographical and theoretical issues, rather than a continuation of methodological debates that focus on antagonisms between different methods of undertaking historical research to the exclusion of advancing the creation of new historical knowledge, however constructed.Originality/valueThis paper articulates a pluralistic and ecumenical vision for historical research in relation to management and organization. The primary contribution is therefore to attempt to dissolve the seeming assumption of dialectical antagonism between different but related sub-communities of practice.