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Little is known about the extent to which management and engineering publications dedicated to the study of quality management topics make use of mixed methods, what types of studies have been conducted and how effective mixed methods have been. The aim of the current paper is to analyse how mixed methods have been used in quality management research.

To address this purpose, a bibliometric analysis was conducted of papers using mixed methods designs to investigate quality management issues and published in the SCOPUS database. CiteSpace software was used to assist in the categorisation and mapping process.

Ninety articles were identified and analysed. The results show that mixed methods are mainly used either to compare different perspectives drawn from quantitative and qualitative data or to develop better measurement instruments. Sequential mixes occur more often than concurrent approaches. Moreover, there is a link between the purpose of the study and the approaches followed to combine qualitative and quantitative methods. Yet, the contribution of the use of mixed methods to achieving the aims of the study is not easy to assess as the purposes of using mixed methods are often not clearly stated.

As one of the first papers to examine how qualitative and quantitative methods are being combined in quality management research, this study is expected to contribute to the literature by providing some insights into how mixed methods can be more effectively used in this field.

The aim of this mixed methods study sought to investigate the preferences and challenges towards fourth industrial revolution (FIR) technologies adoption at hotels in Malaysia.

The study adopted partially-mixed concurrent quantitative-dominant mixed methods. The quantitative part of the study examined the preferred FIR technologies for hotels; whiles the qualitative part explored the challenges towards their adoption.

The results revealed that Internet of things, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cyber physical systems were the preferred FIR technologies for hotels. The findings revealed significant relationships between respondents' socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, working experience, etc.) and preferred FIR technologies. Penultimately, challenges that affect the adoption of FIR technologies including investment cost, migration cost, trust, etc., were discussed.

In effect, findings from this study provide valuable information for policy makers (i.e. hotel owners, management, technology providers and future researchers). Most especially, the study unearths specific FIR technologies preferred by the hospitality and tourism industry. Also, the significant interplay of these preferences vis a vis respondents' socio-demographic characteristics, as well as challenges influencing their adoption also have major implications for policy makers. Another valuable contribution of this study lies in the research method utilised, since most studies on technology adoption either use quantitative or qualitative. These contributions for theory and practice have been thoroughly discussed.

This study aims to explore the interaction among individual factors (enjoyment in helping others and knowledge self-efficacy), organizational factors (top management support and organizational rewards) and the use of information and communication technology factors as enablers of knowledge-sharing (KS) processes (knowledge donating and knowledge collecting) and firm innovation capability (IC) in a telecommunications company in an emerging market economy, namely, Bahrain.

The study used a mixed-methods case study approach. It used answers from 77 employees’ questionnaires and applied the partial least squares structural equation modeling method to test the research model. Several in-depth semidirective interviews were conducted with managers from different levels, functions and educational qualifications to address additional social, cultural, structural and strategic issues related to KS and IC.

The results indicated that enjoyment of helping others correlates with knowledge collection. Top management support had a substantial connection with knowledge donation, which had a robust positive relationship with firm IC. The interviews showed that moving toward a customer-centric strategy, policies, procedures and KS culture in a big organization with many business silos required tremendous effort and pain. People’s ability, willingness and readiness to share knowledge heavily depend on the corporate culture. Employee resistance to change posed a significant challenge.

Researchers have rarely used a case study or a mixed-methods case study approach to explore KS and IC. This study aims to fill this gap using a mixed-methods approach to examine KS enablers, processes and IC in a developing country’s social and cultural context, Bahrain. The work brings together new ways of looking at things and figuring out what they mean to understand knowledge transfer and IC in a telecommunications company. The company must incur changes and additions to its KS mechanisms to inspire innovation.

This study aims to introduce and define the concept of phygital brand community (PBC). It discusses the potential conflicts that can arise from engaging in multiple PBCs and propose an enriched netnographic methodological approach to explore the role of PBC engagement overlap and its influence on the phygital experience.

Following a critical analysis of the inherent limitations of netnographic methodological approaches in the context of PBCs, this study develops an enriched netnographic research protocol that accounts for the challenges of engagement overlap among PBCs.

This study proposes two methods of analysis, namely, “participatory netnography” and “witness netnography,” which are derived from a mixed-methodology approach that integrates elements of netnography.

The findings of this study underscore the requisite methodological refinements imperative for enhancing netnographic analysis, particularly in its application for a better comprehension of individual behaviors within the realm of PBCs. In pursuit of this objective, the identified adjustments encompass ethical considerations, evaluation methods and their application in a digital milieu, where intricate mechanics and technologies frequently elude conventional methodologies.

In this study, the authors present a novel conceptualization of PBCs, highlighting their role and development, as well as the challenges they pose. To adequately capture the impact of PBC engagement overlap, the authors propose the need for an enriched mixed-methodological approach.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees had to switch to remote work. While some adjusted successfully to this transition, others have struggled. Leveraging information systems (IS) to adjust to major exogenous shocks is called digital resilience. The purpose of this paper is to understand what we can learn about employees' digital resilience from externally enforced transitions to remote work.

As digital resilience is challenging to measure, this study uses an embedded mixed methods approach. The authors conducted a qualitative analysis of 40 employees' statements on their remote work experience during the first six months of the pandemic and complemented these findings with scale-based digital resilience scores.

The authors find that employees' digital resilience largely depends on the amount of technical equipment and support they receive from their organizations as well as their ability and willingness to learn how to adequately use and communicate through information and communication technologies. Being self-disciplined and self-responsible positively affects digital resilience, while social isolation threatens it. Organizations can foster digital resilience building by encouraging digital networking, building a digital culture and netiquette, and treating digital resilience as a sociotechnical phenomenon.

This is one of the first empirical studies of digital resilience on a human level. It sheds light on the missing link between IS-enabled resilience and transitions to remote work. Specifically, it provides original insights into its development and manifestation in a remote work context during the COVID-19 pandemic. For researchers, it provides novel guidance on choosing appropriate measurement instruments to capture digital resilience.

Effective information security management (ISM) contributes to building a healthy organizational digital ecology. However, few studies have built an analysis framework for critical influencing factors to discuss the combined influence mechanism of multiple factors on ISM performance (ISMP). This study aims to explore the critical success factors and understand how these factors contribute to ISMP.

This study used a mixed-method approach to achieve this study’s research goals. In Study 1, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis to take a series of International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission standard documents as the basis to refine the critical factors that may influence organizations’ ISMP. In Study 2, the authors built a research model based on the organizational control perspective and used the survey-based partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to understand the relationships between these factors in promoting ISMP. In Study 3, the authors used the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method to empirically analyze the complex mechanisms of how the combinations of the factors affect ISMP.

The following three research findings are obtained. First, based on the text-based qualitative analysis, the authors refined the critical success factors that may increase ISMP, including information security policies (ISP), top management support (TMS), alignment (ALI), information security risk assessment (IRA), information security awareness (ISA) and information security culture (ISC). Second, the PLS-SEM testing results confirmed TMS is the antecedent variable motivating organization’s formation (ISP) and information control (ISC) approaches; these two types of organization control approaches increase IRA, ISA and ALI and then promote ISMP directly and indirectly. Third, the fsQCA testing results found two configurations that can achieve high ISMP and one driving path that leads to non-high ISMP.

This study extends knowledge by exploring configuration factors to improve or impede the performances of organizations’ ISM. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to explore the use of the fsQCA approach in information security studies, and the results not only revealed causal associations between single factors but also highlighted the critical role of configuration factors in developing organizational ISMP. This study calls attention to information security managers of an organization should highlight the combined effect between the factors and reasonably allocate organizational resources to achieve high ISMP.

The purpose of this study was to examine the application of the collaborative research supervision approach (CRSA) to learning projects in higher education, using socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation (SECI) dimensions. The study, therefore, examined how these dimensions assisted learners in Botswana's higher education to generate research knowledge.

The study used a mixed-method research approach and exploratory research design. Purposive sampling was used to examine how the CRSA dimensions were employed in a classroom of 111 higher education learners who were carrying out research projects. Out of this population, 97 responded to a questionnaire, and 14 learners participated in a face-to-face interview. One hundred and eleven research documents produced by learners were analysed, and 42 observations were conducted.

The study found that the four dimensions of CRSA assist greatly in the development of knowledge of the research processes. This study confirms that the CRSA in higher education institutions has the potential to enhance research knowledge and skills, build learners' confidence in research, engage in learning, reduce workload, reduce the frustration of doing research and help learners complete their work in time. Learners with weak research skills easily catch up with their average-performing peers.

It is important to recognise the methodological limitations of this study. The study used a mixed method and a single case. As a result, the results' significance cannot be justified. Additionally, the context and methodology restrict the findings' generalisability. There is obviously potential for additional cases since this article only offers a preliminary analysis of the single case issue. Consequently, the study recommends that yet another study could be conducted to check if the approach could be used for graduate learners. Another study could also be conducted to check if the approach could be used as a supervisory approach that can provide prospects for knowledge sharing and creating learning in an organisation.

The study discovered that when properly implemented, CRSA arrangement enhances research knowledge development and reduces the workload for both the supervisor and the student. When choosing this desired research supervision approach, either in terms of policy or in actual practice, it is important to take the potential for information exchange into account. This might result in improved research supervision efficacy in higher education and hence the production of better quality graduate learning projects.

This study recommends the use of the CRSA in higher education, so as to help learners with weak research skills, to collaboratively work with learners with high and average research skills. It also improves the quality of supervisor–learner learning relationship.

The research results were given to participants and respondents for approval to find out if what was written was what they said. The research results were also given to colleagues to check whether the analysis is balanced and fair and to check biases and exaggerations.

This research addresses the professional logics of street-level managers (SLMs) and bureaucrats (SLBs) working in the Brazilian National Social Security Agency (INSS) through their perceptions of distributive justice and discretion. Since SLMs have the authority to influence SLBs' actions, we investigate whether these two groups hold similar viewpoints.

We integrate the administrative data and survey responses (n = 678) with earlier thematic content analysis (n = 350) in three stages: mean-testing, regression analyses and complementary qualitative analysis, integrated through a mixed-methods matrix.

Whilst no significant differences emerge in distributive justice ideas between groups, SLMs demand wider benefit-granting discretion, praising professionalism whilst adopting managerial posture and jargon.

The study adds to the theoretical discussions concerning SLM’s influence on SLB’s decision-making, suggesting that other factors outweigh it. The finding concerning the managers’ demand for wider discretion asks for further in-depth approaches.

Findings supply valuable insights for policymakers and managers steering administrative reforms, by questioning whether some roles SLMs play are limited to symbolic levels. Further, SLBs’ heterogenous formations might be more relevant to policy divergence than managerial influence and perhaps an underutilised source of innovation.

By approaching street-level management professional logics within a Global South welfare state through a mixed-methods approach, this study offers a holistic understanding of complex dynamics, providing novel insights for public sector management.

A number of recent artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies, including summarisers, paraphrasers and the cutting-edge chatbots not only have outstanding potentials in modern educational systems but also could lead to a dramatic paradigm shift in the whole education process. This study aims to explore the factors that shape the academic community’s desire and intention to use AI conversational chatbot technology, with a particular focus on the leading ChatGPT.

This study uses a mixed method approach to explore the educators’ adoption of chatbots through an empirically validated model. The model, known as the “Educators’ Adoption of ChatGPT”, was developed by integrating the theoretical foundations of both the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and Status Quo Bias (SQB) frameworks, as well as insights gathered from interviews. The relationships within this model were then tested using a quantitative approach. The partial least squares-structural equation modelling method was used to analyse 243 valid survey responses.

The outcomes of the analysis indicated that perceived educators’ effort expectancy, educators’ autonomous motivation, perceived learners’ AI competency, perceived educators’ competency, innovative behaviour towards technological agility and perceived students’ engagement are significant determinants of educators’ intention to use chatbots. In contrast, perceived unfair evaluation of students, perceived students’ overreliance and perceived bias/inaccuracies were shown to have significant impacts on the resistance to use the technology, which typically implies a negatively significant influence on the educators’ use intention. Interestingly, perceived fraudulent use of ChatGPT was proven insignificant on the resistance to use chatbots.

This study makes a significant contribution to the field of educational technology by filling the gap in research on the use and acceptance of AI-enabled assistants in education. It proposes an original, empirically validated model of educator adoption, which identifies the factors that influence educators’ willingness to use chatbots in higher education and offers valuable insights for practical implementation.

Numerous attempts at installing six sigma (SS) have faced challenges and fallen short of the desired success. Thus, it becomes vital to identify the critical factors and characteristics that play a pivotal role in achieving successful adoption. In this study the research has aimed to highlight that a considerable number of corporate SS initiatives, around 60%, fail primarily due to the improper incorporation of essential elements and flawed assumptions.

To validate the influence of critical success factors (CSFs) on SS accomplishment, the study employed a research design combining exploratory and mixed-methods approaches. A Likert-scale questionnaire was utilized, and a simple random sampling method was employed to gather data. Out of the 2,325 potential participants approached, 573 responses were received, primarily from Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The analysis focused on 260 completed questionnaires and statistical methods including structural equation modeling (SEM), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were utilized for data analysis.

The study acknowledged four essential components of CSFs that are imperative for sustaining the success of SS: (1) Competence of belt System employees; (2) Project management skills; (3) Organizational economic capability and (4) Leadership commitment and engagement. These factors were identified as significant contributors to the maintenance of SS’s success.

The practical implications of this research imply that institutions, practitioners, and researchers can utilize the four identified factors to foster the sustainable deployment of SS initiatives. By incorporating these factors, organizations can enhance the effectiveness and longevity of their SS practices.

The investigation's originality lies in its contribution to assessing CSFs in SS deployment within the European automobile industry, utilizing a mixed-methods research design supplemented by descriptive statistics.