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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.

This multiple case study research aims to identify the characteristics of scaling up SMEs in Chile for exploring how and why some entrepreneurship in the information technology (IT) sector are able to scale up and develop sustainable strategies, based on three consecutive years. The average sales of the companies during the last period analysed was around US$1,323,579, with an average annual growth rate of 66.7%. Scaling up SMEs may require several attributes to achieve positive revenue and develop effective high growth rates that allow them to succeed over several years.

To discern the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, the methodology of multiple case study research was conducted in three parts. The first was to define and design the research process, in which the study should settle the theory analysis and then show that research propositions and questions. The second part of the research was to prepare, collect and analyse the data through crafting instruments and data collection protocols as a source of evidence to conduct the pilot and multiple case study. In this stage, interviews were scheduled, transcribed, analysed and coded to explore how individual attributes may create a scaling-up entrepreneurial process for maintaining or developing high performance in the IT sector. The last part of the research concludes and validates the research propositions for the identification for potential attributes, which were obtained during the qualitative study.

Attributes were selected when 13 or more SMEs reported the importance of this initiative for the process of scaling up their SMEs. As a result of the data analysis, the empirical findings suggest on the importance of the academic background, budgetary control, negative entrepreneurial experiences, building teams, geographical expansion and first critical experience as key attributes for scaling-up. Additionally, the data propose that constructive entrepreneurial ecosystem and reforms financing markets and programmes are two additional components that could moderate the interaction between the scaling-up process and the achievement of rapid sales results as a key outcome measure.

The first limitation was the lack of consensus on the phenomenon of the scaling up of entrepreneurship. Information in Latin America and emerging countries is scarce, which also represents an opportunity for other researchers to deepen and validate the results reported here. Even though it was an attempt to understand the issue of environmental change, this additional limitation did not allow the evaluation of these adjustments over time that can positively or negatively drive the strategies corresponding to the evolution in each of the moderator variables.

Because of the characteristics of the sample in terms of size of the SMEs, industrial sector, location, culture, socio-economic environment and years of establishment of the company, the study cannot be generalised in terms of other industrial sectors or countries. The results of this research are also limited to SMEs in Chile, and to the extent that it can be applied to emerging countries IT sectors with similar sample characteristics, it must be done so with caution. Yin states that eight cases “are sufficient replications to convince the reader of a general phenomenon”.

Policymakers have the option to identify what skills and knowledge the entrepreneur requires to be trained to scale up their established ventures. In this context, they will also benefit from the empirical contribution of knowing what the restrictions that limit this process are, such as adverse tax systems and public strategies. Additionally, it is of public interest because no national records exist on the presence of theoretical terms.

Even though the literature promotes the present findings, it shows that there is an absence of empirical evidence in emerging economies to better comprehend which factors may affect the development process of scaling up entrepreneurship in the IT sector. Both deliberate and emergent strategic initiatives are necessary for the scaling-up process where six critical factors are the basis of the scaling-up. This empirical contribution for entrepreneurs will support the achievement of rapid and sustained sales results for scaling up their ventures.

In this exploratory multiple case study, we aim to compare the internationalization of two state-owned enterprises (SOEs) owned by subnational governments with three owned by central governments in Latin America. This study provides a contextualized answer to the question: What are the differences in the internationalization of subnationally owned SOEs compared to central SOEs? This study finds that the speed and diversification of these two types of SOEs’ internationalization differ because they have a different expansion logic. Subnationally owned SOEs have a gradual and diversified expansion following market rules. Central government’s SOEs are specialized and take more drastic steps in their internationalization, which relates to non-market factors.

This study builds an exploratory qualitative comparative case analysis that uses multiple sources of data and information to develop a comprehensive understanding of SOEs through process tracing.

The study posits some assumptions that are confirmed in the case analysis. This study finds relevant differences between sub-national (SSOEs) and central authority (CSOEs’) strategies. SSOEs’ fewer resources and needs to increase income push them to follow a gradual market-driven internationalization and to diversify abroad. CSOEs non-gradual growth is justified by non-market factors (i.e. national politics). CSOEs do not diversify abroad due to the broader set of constituencies they have to face.

Given the exploratory comparative case study of this research, the findings are bounded by the particularities of the cases and their region (Latin America). This paper and its findings can be useful for theory building but it does not claim any generalization capacity.

This study adds complexity into the SOEs phenomenon by distinguishing between different types of SOEs. This paper contributes to the study of subnational phenomena and its effect in SOEs’ internationalization process, which is an understudied topic. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is among the first studies that explore subnational SOEs in Latin America.

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.

Industrialized construction (IC) leverages manufacturing principles and innovative processes to improve the performance of construction projects. Though IC is gaining popularity in the global construction industry, studies that establish the best practices for implementing IC projects are scarce. This study aims to benchmark practical lifecycle-based best practices for implementing IC projects.

The study used a qualitative research design where nine IC cases from Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong were analysed to identify best practices. The methodological framework of the study followed well-established case study research cycle and guidelines, including planning, data collection, data analysis and reflection on findings.

The study identified and allocated key considerations, relevant stakeholders, best practices, typical deliverables and best indicators to the different construction lifecycle phases of IC projects. It also developed a lifecycle-based framework of the best practices for IC projects.

The study provides practitioners with practical insight into how best to effectively implement, manage and evaluate the performance of the IC project lifecycle phases. The proposed framework can serve as a practical diagnostic tool that enables project partners to evaluate the performance upfront progressively and objectively in each project lifecycle phase, which may inform timely corrective actions.

The study’s novelty lies in developing a framework that identifies and demonstrates the dynamic linkages among different sets of best practices, typical outputs and best practice indicators across the IC project lifecycle phases.