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The purpose of this paper is to focus on the transactional relationship between retailers and handicrafts suppliers using case study research.

Various reports on the handicraft sector were studied. Interactions with industry experts also helped clarify various issues confronting the industry. Preliminary visits to organizations working in this area were undertaken to know the ground realities of the handicraft sector.

To prove the reliability of the case study process and enable others to replicate it, the steps and procedures must be clearly explicit and well documented in the final report. In this research, the steps that are followed to collect the data have been described in detail so that other researchers can apply the case study process and achieve similar results.

Scholarship focussing on organised retail as well as handicrafts production and marketing is well developed. There is vast literature on the former from the developed economies though the Indian context is only beginning to be researched. Similarly, there are a large number of scholarly and popular writings on the latter. Yet, there is a paucity of scholarship on the buyer-supplier transactions.

Draws heavily on previous established research in an attempt to distil the key aspects of case study research in such a way as to encourage new researchers to grapple with and apply these. Explains when case study can be used, research design, data collection and data analysis, offering suggestions for drawing on the evidence in writing a report or dissertation. Briefly reviews alternative perspectives on the subject.

A case study is expected to capture the complexity of a single case, which should be a functioning unit, be investigated in its natural context with a multitude of methods, and be contemporary. A case study and, normally, history focus on one case, but simultaneously take account of the context, and so encompass many variables and qualities. When a physical artefact is the case the gap between case study and history tends to diminish and case studies often become more or less historical case studies. Case study methodology also bridges the gap between quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences. Still the different concepts of validation in quantitative and qualitative research sometimes create confusion when they are combined, as they often are in case studies.

The case might be studied with an intrinsic interest in the case as such, or with an interest in generalising. When a generalisation is based on the deductive principle, the procedure of testing hypothesis is used. A second mode of generalisation is inductive theory-generation, or conceptualisation. The third mode depends on the principle of abduction. Abduction is the process of facing an unexpected fact, applying some rule and, as a result, positing a case that may be. But there are two kinds of abduction: One is when a case is created from a few facts; for instance, historical data or clues. The other is operative when generalisations are made from known cases and applied to an actual problem situation by making appropriate comparisons. This is also called naturalistic generalisation. In a case study, the different modes of generalisation are often combined.

The conclusion is that case studies has the potential for further development through the mastery of the combination on different levels of techniques, methodologies, strategies, or theories, like; the combination of case study and history, which is important when the case is an artefact; the combination of differing quality standards in qualitative and quantitative research, which are difficult to codify; and the combination of different modes of generalisation.

Demonstrates the usefulness of the case study method as a learning tool for practising library and information specialists. Conclusions based on findings from a Botswana Library Association seminar involving the relationship between professional and paraprofessional staff in which case studies were used. Data on seminar participants’ opinions regarding the case studies were obtained through mail questionnaires. Based on the overwhelming positive response by participants, the case studies were found to be extremely useful at this seminar. Moreover, argues that case studies can be successful at seminars more generally, with suggested case study readers being provided.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that can be used by marketing educators to evaluate the appropriateness of case studies for inclusion in a course.

This viewpoint paper represents the views of the author alone.

Selection criteria for the possible inclusion of specific case studies in a marketing course will be affected by the characteristics of students (prior experience, familiarity with subject matter), characteristics of the course (academic level, subject matter, managerial or non‐managerial orientation), and by characteristics of the case study (degree of realism, complexity, knowledge content, skills content, degree of decision orientation).

Suggests a practical way forward for marketing educators, particularly those new to the profession, when selecting case studies for incorporation into their course.

The advantages and disadvantages of using case studies are stated. The IIA Internal Auditing Case Study Project is discussed, and an anatomy of a case study is presented. The techniques of case study analysis are given.

Purpose: Case studies are detailed empirical investigations into a complex entity that emphasize the uniqueness of the case and are valuable for making a theoretical contribution. We aim to reveal the types of theoretical contributions case study research can make to the field of strategy and management and explore how case study design can create the opportunities for making a theoretical contribution.

Methodology/Approach: The dynamic capability approach focuses on the firm-specific processes through which firms integrate, build, or reconfigure resources. A comprehensive review of case studies in this field is conducted in five search engines, resulting in a data set of 13 in-depth case studies.

Findings: We demonstrate that using case studies to extend and refine theory enhances knowledge in the field of dynamic capabilities. In strategy and management research, case studies identify and refine constructs and their relationships, develop and confirm propositions, and embed constructs within a larger set of relationships. We reveal that sampling strategy, research setting, and multiple lenses are aspects of case study design that create opportunities for making a theoretical contribution.

Practical Implications: We suggest that case study researchers strategically and purposefully sample cases, vary the setting conditions, or draw upon numerous research fields to make a theoretical contribution.

Originality/Value of Paper: Going beyond the current discussion, we show that case studies have the potential to extend and refine theory. We shed new light on how dynamic capabilities can benefit from case study research by discovering the antecedents that shape the development of capabilities and determining the boundary conditions of the dynamic capabilities approach.

This study applies asymmetric rather than conventional symmetric analysis to advance theory in occupational psychology. The study applies systematic case-based analyses to model complex relations among conditions (i.e., configurations of high and low scores for variables) in terms of set memberships of managers. The study uses Boolean algebra to identify configurations (i.e., recipes) reflecting complex conditions sufficient for the occurrence of outcomes of interest (e.g., high versus low financial job stress, job strain, and job satisfaction). The study applies complexity theory tenets to offer a nuanced perspective concerning the occurrence of contrarian cases – for example, in identifying different cases (e.g., managers) with high membership scores in a variable (e.g., core self-evaluation) who have low job satisfaction scores and when different cases with low membership scores in the same variable have high job satisfaction. In a large-scale empirical study of managers (n = 928) in four (contextual) segments of the farm industry in New Zealand, this study tests the fit and predictive validities of set membership configurations for simple and complex antecedent conditions that indicate high/low core self-evaluations, job stress, and high/low job satisfaction. The findings support the conclusion that complexity theory in combination with configural analysis offers useful insights for explaining nuances in the causes and outcomes to high stress as well as low stress among farm managers. Some findings support and some are contrary to symmetric relationship findings (i.e., highly significant correlations that support main effect hypotheses).

This paper presents the major findings of recently completed research in the UK concerning the attributes of information as an asset and its impact on organisational performance. The research study employed an automated information asset- and attribute-scoring grid exercise and semi-structured open-ended interviews with 45 senior UK managers in four case study organisations. The information asset-scoring grid was developed to provide a simple visual representation of information assets and attributes using Excel charts. The semi-structured open-ended interviews aimed to identify the attributes of information assets considered significant by 45 senior UK managers and to explore relevant issues such as the value of information and organisational effectiveness.

In the context of organizational change, identifying, and organizing the various roles of change agents remains a challenge for practitioners and scholars alike. This chapter examines how different agents can enable an effective change process. Empirical evidence from three hospitals illustrates the process of transformation and its underlying arrangements to identify agents and their roles. The findings underline the importance of designing a coherent system of agents, determining where they come from, their role during the process, and how this may change throughout the change process. Managerial choices in the cases are discussed, leading to implications for theory and practice.